Jacksonville shooting: Audio of 911 call by gunman’s dad released

Police have released audio of a 911 call by the father of a gunman who killed three people in a racially motivated attack in Florida.

The dad is heard telling an emergency dispatcher the 21-year-old has stopped taking psychiatric medication.

The killer used a legally purchased rifle and handgun in the attack on Saturday in Jacksonville, say police.

The three victims were Anolt Laguerre Jr, 19, Jerrald De’Shaun Gallion, 29, and 52 year-old Angela Carr.

The father called 911 at 13:53 EDT (17:53 GMT) on Saturday to express concern about his son, who he said had left the house two hours beforehand, according to the audio.

His son had texted him at 13:18 asking his father to check his bedroom, where he had left a will, racist writings and a suicide note, according to officials.

The text was sent minutes after the white gunman, armed with a swastika-etched AR-15 rifle, had opened fire at a Dollar General store and just before he turned the gun on himself, say investigators.

The gunman, Ryan Christopher Palmeter, shot Ms Carr, an Uber driver, in the store’s car park before entering the premises just after 13:00, where he shot Mr Laguerre, a store employee, and Mr Gallion, a customer, officials say.

The father told officials his son had tried to kill himself when he was 15 and that it appeared he had stopped taking his psychiatric medication because he had a full bottle of his prescription in his room.

The dad told officials his son, who had no criminal history, had dropped out of Flagler college and moved home two years go.

He said his son used to work at Home Depot, but lost the job and “pretty much has been living in his room”.

“He doesn’t go anywhere,” the father says.

Police tell him officers are on the way to the family home in the town of Orange Park.

Officials have said the gunman was detained for 72 hours in 2017 under the Baker Act, mental health legislation that allows for an individual’s involuntary detainment.

Authorities have said the shooter left behind a journal detailing his hatred of black people.

Before the shooting, he drove to the car park of the historically black Edwards Waters University, where students noticed him putting on a tactical vest, gloves and a mask.

A campus security officer approached the suspect and he fled, opening fire at the store about 10 minutes later.

The US Department of Justice is investigating the attack as a hate crime and an act of racially motivated violent extremism.

If you’re in the US, call 988, or contact Lifeline.