‘SCUMBAG’

DeSantis Reacts to Jacksonville Shooting: ‘A Very Cowardly Act’

“He was targeting people based on their race. That is totally unacceptable,” he said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis denounced a shooting that killed three Black people in Jacksonville on Saturday as “horrific” and “racially motivated,” labeling the so-far unnamed perpetrator a “scumbag.” “He was targeting people based on their race. That is totally unacceptable,” DeSantis told WJAX-TV. “This guy killed himself rather than face the music and accept responsibility for his actions, and so he took the coward's way out. But we condemn what happened in the strongest possible terms.” The governor said he spoke with Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters about the shooting and has offered support to the city and condolences to those who were the “victims of a very cowardly act.” The suspect, described as a white man in his mid-20s armed with a gun adorned with swastikas, penned several manifestos that “detail the shooter’s disgusting ideology of hate” before the racist attack, Waters confirmed at a press conference. “The hate that motivated the shooter’s killing spree adds an additional layer of heartbreak,” Waters said.