A shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, has left multiple people and the shooter dead, officials say
Jacksonville's mayor says multiple people have been fatally shot inside a Dollar General store in the city
Multiple people were fatally shot Saturday inside a Jacksonville, Florida, Dollar General store, the city's mayor has told a television station. A city council member says the shooter is dead.
Mayor Donna Deegan told WJXT āthere are a number of fatalitiesā inside the store but didn't give a precise number. Numerous police officers were in the area near Edward Waters University, a small historically Black university.
āThis is unacceptable,ā Deegan told the station. āOne shooting is too much but these mass shootings are really hard to take.ā
Jacksonville City Council member Ju'Coby Pittman told the station the shooter is dead. She did not give details.
āMy heart is heavy. I am tired of all of the shootings,ā she said.
Edward Waters University students were being kept in their dorms, the school said in a statement. No students or faculty are believed involved, the school said.
Further details were not immediately available. The city says it and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office will hold a press conference.
Penny Jones told the The Associated Press that she worked at the store until a few months ago. She lives a few blocks away in the predominantly Black neighborhood.
āIām just waiting to hear about my co-workers that I used to work with,ā Jones said. āI donāt know if itās safe to move about the neighborhood.ā
Jones added that she was āfeeling awkward, scared.ā
"I donāt want to leave my house. Iām thinking, do I want to go back to the store? Is this going to start happening more frequently? I donāt know what the cause of it is. Iām confused. Itās a lot of different feelings going on right now,ā she said Saturday afternoon.
The shooting happened five years to the day when a gunman opened fire during a video game tournament in Jacksonville, killing two people before fatally shooting himself.