Salem Police Express 'Revulsion' At 'Hateful' Jacksonville Mass Shooting

SALEM, MA — Salem Police Chief Lucas Miller on Tuesday called the Aug. 26 mass shooting in Jacksonville, Florida an act of terrorism as he released a statement conveying the department's "revulsion at the crime and the hateful and racist motive."

The Associated Press reported that a white man wearing a mask and firing a weapon with a swastika on it shot and killed three Black people on Saturday. The shooter, whom the AP reported had posted racist writings, then killed himself.

The shooting happened at a Dollar General store in New Town, a predominantly Black neighborhood of Jacksonville. About a third of Jacksonville’s residents are Black.

The AP reported that the shooter had been turned away from the campus of Edward Waters University, a historically Black university, when he refused to identify himself and was then seen putting on a bullet-resistant vest and a mask as he drove away.

"We do not pretend that 'thoughts and prayers' messages will do much to heal a community and a segment of our country that is so often victimized," Miller said, "but we do want the city that we serve to know that this is terrorism and that SPD will continue to work along and with our state and federal partners to identify threats and to enforce the law, particularly against anyone who would target someone for the color of their skin."

During his time leading the Salem since coming from the New York City Police Department, Chief Miller has issued statements following local and national incidents that appear to target people of a particular, race, religion or lifestyle assuring them that the department supports them and is in a heightened state of vigilance against threats against them.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)