According to CNN, the gunman, 21-year-old Ryan Christopher Palmeter, left his Clay County home close to noon and headed for Jacksonville about 30 minutes away. He initially stopped at Edward Waters University, Florida’s first HBCU, and put on a bulletproof vest; video footage captured him getting dressed. 

Edward Waters University President and CEO Dr. A. Zachary Faison Jr. told CNN a student alerted campus security about Palmeter because he looked “out of place.” After being confronted by security, Palmeter got into his car and drove away.

“We don’t know obviously what his full intentions were, but we do know that he came here right before going to the Dollar General,” Faison said. “Members of our university security team reacted almost immediately. I think the reports are in less than 30 seconds after he made contact and drove onto our campus.”

Shortly after, Palmeter shot into a vehicle at a Dollar General parking lot near Edward Waters’ campus, killing 52-year-old Angela Michelle Carr. He then entered the store and fatally shot 19-year-old Anolt Joseph “AJ” Laguerre Jr. Customers quickly exited the store via its back entrance.

Jerrald Gallion, 29, entered the store with his girlfriend seconds after someone placed the first 911 call. Palmeter fatally shot him and chased another person, who he attempted to shoot but was unsuccessful.

Palmeter sent a text message to his father afterward, instructing him to go into his room, where he found a suicide note. Minutes later, he shot and killed himself.

“He targeted a certain group of people, and that’s Black people,” Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters said at a news conference after the incident. “That’s what he said he wanted to kill. And that’s very clear… Any member of that race at that time was in danger.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the Justice Department’s investigation on Sunday, describing the incident as “violent extremism.”

Meanwhile, the Jacksonville community is trying to heal from the attack, which occurred at the same time as the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington.

“The division has to stop, the hate has to stop, the rhetoric has to stop,” Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan said during a gathering Sunday, CNN reported. “We are all the same flesh, blood and bones, and we should treat each other that way.”

On Monday, Vice President Kamala Harris urged Congress to ban assault weapons and pursue common sense gun safety legislation.

“America is experiencing an epidemic of hate. Too many communities have been torn apart by hatred and violent extremism,” Harris said. “Too many families have lost children, parents, and grandparents. Too many Black Americans live every day with the fear that they will be victims of hate-fueled gun violence—at school, at work, at their place of worship, at the grocery store.”