What they're saying: Anger, disbelief and sorrow in aftermath of Dollar General shooting

Anger. Frustration. Disbelief. Grief

Residents, church leaders and elected officials remained in shock Sunday — one day after three Black people were gunned down in a racially motivated slaying at a Dollar General store by a white man wearing a mask, bullet-resistant vest and armed with an AR-15-style rifle decorated with swastikas and a handgun.

Sheriff T.K Waters identified the shooter who killed himself when police entered the store as 21-year-old Ryan Christopher Palmeter.

Waters also released the names of the victims: 52-year-old Angela Michelle Carr, 19-year-old Anolt Joseph "A.J." Laguerre Jr., and 29-year-old Jerrald De'Shaun Gallion. Others were shot at both in and outside of a Kings Road Dollar General store, he said.

Jacksonville police along with FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents are investigating the multiple shootings as a hate crime.

Prayers vigils and calls for unity to combat the hate and violence Sunday echoed throughout Jacksonville as the city marked the anniversary of another infamous racially motivated attack — Ax Handle Saturday.

On Sunday neighbors and passers-by kept glancing or stopped briefly to watch as Jacksonville police and federal agents continued to collect evidence from the Dollar General at 2161 Kings Road, about three-quarters of a mile from Edward Waters University in the New Town neighborhood.

"This is just crazy …It definitely is a shock. I mean, dang," said Bryson Houston, a customer whose grandmother also lives across the street from the store. Neither he nor his grandmother were there when the shootings happened.

Frustration bordering on anger

St. Paul AME Church about three miles from the Dollar General held the first of several prayer vigils Sunday for the victims, their families, the community and elected officials.

Senior Pastor Willie Barnes Jr. described the situation as sad, frustrating and difficult because it keeps happening and seems to be getting worse. The Dollar General shootings isn't the first incident of a racially motivated crime in the nation but now it's in Jacksonville, which makes it feel personal.

"I'm trying to avoid anger … but I am very close to being angry," he told the Times-Union before the service, attended by about 150 people. "I'm really working to avoid anger because sometimes anger causes us to say and do things that are not constructive or helpful."

Because he feels "so conflicted," Barnes conceded he had been struggling with how to comfort and counsel his congregation.

Barnes said he thinks a lot of people in the congregation understand that prayer is a powerful tool but they are tired of praying, tired of having vigils and tired of of sending condolences due to the frequency of such tragedies.

"How do you comfort people who feel they are being executed for the color of their skin? How do you comfort people who are angry and they don't really want to hear 'well, let's pray for the victims.' That may be simply what I say, that I don't know," Barnes said.

When the time came, Barnes told them he was relieved that the congregation is calling for community unity and action to "tear Satan's kingdom down" by addressing hate, racism and discrimination.

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Elected officials also reacted to the shootings with calls for unity and community action.

President Joe Biden

The president cited the ongoing local and federal investigations into the shooting.

"Even as we continue searching for answers, we must say clearly and forcefully that white supremacy has no place in America. We must refuse to live in a country where Black families going to the store or Black students going to school live in fear of being gunned down because of the color of their skin. Hate must have no safe harbor. Silence is complicity and we must not remain silent."

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

The governor spoke with Waters by phone about the shootings Saturday then issued a statement in which he called the shooter a scumbag and denounced his racist motive, NBC News reported.

“This guy killed himself rather than face the music and accept responsibility for his actions. He took the coward’s way out,” DeSantis said while campaigning in Iowa for the Republican presidential nomination.

Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan

Her voice filled with emotion, Mayor Donna Deegan spoke at the St. Paul AME Church vigil. Deegan ended her remarks with an apology.

"As your mayor, I take personal responsibility for what happens in our city. Too often we keep going down the same path over and over again. We're still fighting the same fight but some days it feels like we're going backwards. We've got to bring this community together. It's going to take all of us. We must come together and we must start valuing all of our community. We all have the same blood.

"I am so very, very deeply sorry that this has happened in this community once again," she said.

Jaguars owner Shad Khan

"The heartache I share with family and friends of the victims today is deepened knowing this tragedy in New Town will be remembered as an act of hatred against Black people of our community.  Some things in our lives are beyond our control, but we are able to determine how we treat, respect and love each other.  Hatred cannot be a choice. No one should be victim of hatred.   No one should hate," Khan said in a statement Sunday.

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Northside Coalition of Jacksonville

President Kelly Frazier said the civil rights community organization was not surprised by the violence.

"We are saddened but not surprised by racially motivated shootings in Jacksonville. Events like this are the inevitable result of a refusal to respect the Black community. Public officials tolerate racism when they refuse to remove monuments, names, and markers that glorify a racist past. The not-so-subtle message is sent to the world: racism is welcome here. In the aftermath, empty words are not needed; anti-racist actions are."

Dollar General

Dollar General issued a statement Saturday evening saying it is cooperating with investigators.

"We are heartbroken by the senseless act of violence that occurred at our Kings Road store in Jacksonville, Florida today. At this time, supporting our Jacksonville employees and the DG family impacted by this tragedy is a top priority as we work closely with law enforcement."

Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords

Giffords, who survived a 2011 assassination attempt by a gunman who killed six people, has a non-profit organization Giffords dedicated to ending gun violence.

"Once again, a community is forever scarred by the horror of anti-Black gun violence in America. My heart breaks for the families of three innocent people horrifically killed today in a hateful attack in Jacksonville — three people who would be at home with their families tonight if not for the deadly combination of hate and loose gun laws that made it possible.  We cannot tolerate any more of this."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville residents, officials, church leaders denounce racist shooting