January 18, 2024
Florida Dollar General Store Where White Racist Killed 3 Black People Reopens
The store placed a memorial to honor the victims that were killed on Aug. 27, 2023, AJ Laguerre Jr., 19, Angela Carr, 52, and Jerrald Gallion, 29.
Three Black people were killed last summer at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida, by a white gunman who targeted Black people shopping there on Aug. 27, 2023. The store has just reopened, to mixed reactions from the mostly Black community, according to News 4 Jax.
The Dollar General reopened its doors on Jan. 12, after being shuttered since the tragedy that took place last August.
The memory of the crime is still fresh in the minds of people in the neighborhood. According to reports, the shooter, Ryan Palmeter, who committed suicide after the killings, initially went to Edward Waters University, an HBCU in the area, before being confronted by campus officer Lt. Antonio Bailey, who prevented Palmeter from committing his crime at the university.
Palmeter then headed over to Dollar General, which was within walking distance of the school, armed with a Glock and an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, and committed the carnage before killing himself.
Dollar General said the company took time to listen to its employees and people in the community before making the move to open again.
“It was important to take the necessary time to listen to and evaluate feedback from employees and the community, which informed not only the store’s upgrades but also our efforts to reopen the store in a respectful and thoughtful manner,” said Julie Martin, division vice president at Dollar General. “We continue to provide support, counseling and outreach where needed in Jacksonville and are pleased to once again serve our Kings Road neighbors.”
With the reopening, the store created a memorial to honor the victims slain by Palmeter: AJ Laguerre Jr., 19; Angela Carr, 52; and Jerrald Gallion, 29. Dollar General stated that it has no plans to remove the memorial.
Attorneys for the victims are against the reopening, saying it disrespects the three victims who died on Aug. 27, 2023.
“It minimizes the value of their lives,” said Adam Finkel, a lawyer with The Haggard Law Firm. “This is about money, what they’re doing. They’re trying to market again to say, ‘Come back into our stores and buy our items. So we can make up for the profit loss from having closed the store,’ having closed the store because the walls were covered in blood.”
Whether residents are against the store reopening or welcome its return, Finkel believes Dollar General should provide security guards and ensure that customers feel safe going to the store.
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