Victims’ families file lawsuit in racially motivated Jacksonville shooting 

The families of shooting victims have filed a lawsuit against Dollar General after a racially motivated attack in Jacksonville, Fla., left three shoppers dead this summer. 

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump and co-counsel Michael Haggard filed the lawsuit against the bargain store and the parents of the shooter on behalf of the families of the victims.

The lawsuit argues that Dollar General was negligent in their security measures, allowing Ryan Palmeter to easily enter the store and open fire. 

On Aug. 26, an armed Palmeter stopped at a Family Dollar store dressed in tactical gear, authorities said. Officials later confirmed Palmeter, 21, had a swastika emblazoned on his assault-style rifle and had left behind racist writings.

The lawsuit argues that Palmeter was deterred at the Family Dollar by the presence of a uniformed security guard, so he then drove to Edward Waters University, a historically Black university. He was once again deterred by security personnel at the campus — so he then drove to the Dollar General, where he opened fire. 

Anolt Joseph “AJ” Laguerre Jr., 19; Jerrald Gallion, 29; and Angela Michelle Carr, 52 all died that day. Laguerre was a Dollar General employee. Palmeter took his own life.

“A criminal’s safe haven, this Dollar General was devoid of meaningful security measures,” the lawsuit says. “While Palmeter was deterred from harming the public at his two preceding stops, at this Dollar General, there was nothing in place to again deter Palmeter from attacking and killing innocent persons.”

The lawsuit goes on to name Palmeter’s parents, Stephen and Maryann Palmeter. 

Attorneys argue that Palmeter’s parents knew their son struggled with mental illness, including alcoholism, and had an “obsession with firearms and violence.” Palmeter lived with his parents at the time of the shooting, and had left behind a suicide note for his parents before he left home on Aug. 26. 

Palmeter’s parents “failed to take reasonable precautions to provide for the safety of the general public by failing to take action, including but not limited to informing the authorities about the threat posed by Ryan Palmeter, and by allowing him and/or assisting him to retain his firearms, despite the evident danger posed,” the lawsuit states. 

Attorneys are now seeking action for damages more than $50,000 for the families of the victims. 

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Aug. 27 that the department was investigating the attack as a hate crime and an act of racially-motivated violent extremism.

The Hill has reached out to Dollar General. Attorneys for Palmeter’s parents were not listed.