Motivated by ‘ideology of hate', US gunman shoots dead 3, kills self

Washington: An unidentified man shot dead three Black people in Florida on Saturday before taking his own life, AFP reported.

The white man in his early 20s had a standoff with the police after he opened fire at a Dollar General store here.

‘He targeted a certain group of people and that's Black people. That's what he said he wanted to kill. And that's very clear,’ Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters reportedly said.

The shooter entered the store armed with an AR-style rifle and handgun, wearing a tactical vest, according to the report.

The gunman's family had shortly before the attack discovered manifestos that ‘detail the shooter's disgusting ideology of hate’, police said.

Notably swastikas were drawn on one of the guns, which suggest the man’s ideological leaning.

Edward Waters University, near to where the shooting took place, stated that the shooter had been on the campus earlier the day.

The unidentified male was found in the vicinity of the Central Library on campus, according to the report.

The statement added that the man, who refused to identify himself, was asked to leave.

Officials said that there was no evidence to suggest that the man was a part of a larger group.

In the United States, where there are more guns than citizens, mass shootings have become commonplace.

It is usually blamed on the easy access in most states to firearms.

Another shooting earlier Saturday at a Caribbean festival in the northeast city of Boston injured at least seven people.

The shooting in Jacksonville is among a series of racially motivated killing in the country, according to the report.