JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Dollar General store where three Black people were killed in a racially motivated shooting last summer reopened Friday morning in a northeast Florida community where it is one of the few stores selling fresh food to local residents.
Nearly five months after the Aug. 26 shooting, memorials remained dedicated to victims Jerrald Gallion, Anolt “AJ” Laguerre Jr. and Angela Carr outside the New Town Dollar General store in Jacksonville, still decorated with photos, flowers and stuffed animals.
At the store’s entrance, the company placed a permanent plaque that reads “#JacksonvilleStrong,” the Florida Times-Union reported.
“It was important to take the time to listen to and evaluate employee and community feedback, which not only inspired the store’s upgrades, but also our efforts to reopen the store in a respectful and thoughtful manner ,” Julie Martin, Dollar General division vice president of store operations, told Jacksonville television station WJXT during a tour of the store Thursday.
The store received a new look, which was the result of consultation with community members and local officials. The store now offers customers a wider variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, ready-to-eat salads, frozen vegetables, meats and milk.
The reopening has put the victims’ families “through their own individual emotional torment,” said South Florida attorney Adam Finkel, who represents the victims’ estates and some relatives. Late last year, they filed a lawsuit against the company over lax security at the store.
“This was the site of a terrible mass shooting that should never have happened,” Finkel told The Associated Press.
“If the store were open and many people, including families and people in the community, did not want the store to reopen, then it should at least reopen in a safe manner,” Finkel said.
He said the lack of security at the store was a reason for the tragedy, and he questions whether appropriate safety measures will be taken at the newly opened store. The lawsuit filed in December alleges a spate of shootings, assaults, burglaries, robberies and drug dealing in the area around the store.
The AP inquired about security measures at the newly opened store, but that was not addressed in the news release Dollar General provided in response. The company noted that it had provided $2.5 million to multiple charities and agencies in the Jacksonville area since the shooting.
On August 26, Ryan Palmer, 21, fatally shot Carr as she sat in her car outside the store. He then went in and shot Gallion and Laguerre Jr.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said Palmer texted his father during the attack, telling him to break into his room and check his computer. There the father found a suicide note, a will and racist writings from his son. The family notified authorities, but by then the shooting had already started. Officials say there were writings addressed to his family, federal law enforcement agencies and at least one media outlet that made it clear he hated black people.
