We have an active shooter, we have an acre Shooting's go ahead of a
player that's a mass casualty Welcome to Active Shooter, a podcast that covers the
whys, the hows, and the aftermath of active shooter and mass casualty events.
I have an active shooter in a building a teching call as a our
big attack of the show. We got chuck fire at four fifteen ASL broaching
ninety one, So I'm like, oh, I'm at a fire on Active
shooter. Coorts of an active shooter, active shooter, active shooter of mass
casualty incidents. Thank you for listening. You are listening to Active Shooter,
a podcast that may contain adult themes, explicit language, and graphic depictions of
violence. Portions of this show may be traumatic for those under eighteen. Listener
discretion is advised. We begin with breaking news tonight, law enforcement sources confirming
three victims and the shooter have all been killed in a shooting at the Dollar
General on Kings Road near Edward Waters University. Good evening to you, everybody,
Thank you for joining us. Mass shootings are utterly devastating acts of violence
that we can never make sense of, and even more so when the attack
is against a child, is anti Semitic, anti LGBTQ plus, or is
rooted in pure racism. How do you comprehend that three innocent people were murdered
because of a complete stranger's ignorant beliefs. How does one explain to a child
that their parent died because someone else hated the very existence of them, simply
because of the color of their skin. The shooting at Dollar General in Jacksonville,
Florida was a cold blooded murder that was carried out by a monster with
a gun and bigoted malice in his heart. It's a heartbreaking reminder that racism
is still very prevalent, and it is our duty to educate ourselves about racial
biases, have the courage to speak up when we see racism and embrace other
cultures and ways of life. We must teach love over hate. Today's case
is dedicated to the lives and memories of the three shooting victims, Angela Michelle
Carr, Gerald Gallian and a Nault. Joseph A J. Leguire junior active
shooter. The podcast is a High five Holly production, and I'm your host
JT. If you've listened to our prior episodes. You know that the Active
Shooter podcast team has taken the no notoriety pledge and we will not be sharing
the real name to the shooters that we cover. We will be giving the
shooters a pseudonym and refer to them by that name throughout the episode. This
will help in clearing up any confusion in the story. While remaining true to
our pledge and not naming the shooter by their actual name. We will refer
to today's shooter as Yuri. Saturday, August twenty sixth, twenty twenty three
was a hot Jacksonville day. There were scattered clouds throughout the sky, and
the lack of a breeze made the heat feel sticky and heavy inside a neighborhood
Jacksonville Dollar General. Employees managed to stay cool enough as they worked around the
clutter of boxes and merchandise all over the store. The store was relatively busy,
customers mustling in and out of the store with their merchandise carefully tucked inside
their bright yellow shopping bags elsewhere. Twenty one year old Yury was leaving his
home in Oak Leaf Plantation, which is close to Jacksonville, at eleven thirty
nine a m Yuri backed his gray Honda Element out of the drive and took
off his destination the busiest dollar store he could find. His purpose murder as
many innocents as possible before taking his own life. Yuri carried a glock twenty
ten millimeters pistol and a Palmeadow State Armory AR fifteen rifle. He made a
momentary stop at a family dollar where he purchased a few items. It's believed
that this store was the initial target. However, Yuri allegedly grew impatient while
waiting, so he left. It isn't evident what or who he was waiting
for four but it has been speculated that there weren't enough customers in the store
to satisfy Yuri's bloodlust. After he left the dollar store, Yuri drove to
Edward Waters University, which is a smaller sized, historically black college. He
arrived at twelve forty eight pm and cruised into the parking lot located behind the
library and pulled into an empty space. Next to his parking spot was a
vehicle that was occupied by two black men. Yuri sat there for a moment,
but took no action except to record a TikTok video of himself putting on
a tactical vest. Police would later indicate that they didn't believe the college was
a or the only target Yury had in mind. Why he stopped there isn't
clear, but shortly after he arrived, a campus security officer came upon Yory's
car and walked up to speak with him. The officer asked Yuri for identification,
which he was unable to produce, so the officer informed Yuri he would
need to vacate the campus property. At twelve fifty seven pm, Yury drove
through the parking lot with the security officer following close behind so as to ensure
he actually left. Suspicions peaked, the campus security officer waved down at Jacksonville
Shriff's deputy and reported the encounter that left him feeling unsettled. The deputy issued
a bolow or be on the lookout for the gray Honda at one o eight
pm. Mere moments after the bolow, a shot Spotter nine one one alert
blasted eleven times. After eleven shots were fired just outside of the Dollar General
store located at twenty one sixty one King's Road in the predominantly black neighborhood.
Of Jacksonville called Newtown. The shot Spotter is a service that offers a gunfire
locator service and claims to be able to discern whether or not gunfire was detected
in a specified area, allowing law enforcement to be dispatched Accordingly. The company,
which is based in Fremont, California, has changed the services name to
Sound Thinking Incorporated. Perhaps it was coincidental, but the name change came after
recent dissent with the system due to serious concerns of its reliability, equity,
privacy, and effectiveness. Ury fired all eleven shots directly into the windshield of
Uber driver Angela Michelle Carr's vehicle. Angela was dropping off a passenger when her
windshield suddenly exploded as eleven bullets blasted through it. The fifty two year old
mother of three and grandmother to sixteen. Angela was described as a thoughtful and
attentive woman who worked incredibly hard to provide the best possible life for her family.
By her personal struggles with a rocky divorce and other family drama, Angela's
daughter said her mom was the strongest person she knew. Angela leaves behind a
legacy of perseverance and compassion after shooting. Angela Yori entered the Dollar General,
and without a moment's hesitation, he raised the gun and fired. The shot
spotter went off again, alerting one time at one o nine PM, as
Uri shot and killed employee Annault Aj Leaguire as he was trying to run from
the sounds of gunfire. Nineteen year old Aj was born on October twenty five,
two thousand and four, and was the youngest of seven children. When
he was only five, his mother passed away, and AJ and his siblings
were raised by their grandmother. The responsible young man aspired to be a professional
video game streamer, and understandably, his favorite thing to do was play video
games. His thoughtfulness nature will be deeply missed. The first nine one one
call was placed at one nine pm, and several others followed. Inside the
store, security footage depicted an individual wearing a tactical vest with a blue button
up shirt over it. His face was covered and he wore a hat,
ear protection, khaki pants, and rounded out the look with black boots.
At a very quick glance, he might appear to be any regular shopper.
Petrified employees and even a few customers were able to escape through the rear exit.
Yuri walked rapidly towards the back of the store, briefly exiting out of
the same door people just ran out of. He turned and re entered the
store and looked up to a security camera. He raised the firearm and attempted
to shoot the camera, but he missed. At one ten pm, Gerald
Gallian and his girlfriend, completely unaware of what was taking place inside, entered
the store to do some light shopping. They may have been able to peruse
a few aisles searching for their desired items when at one thirteen pm, Yori
came upon the couple. He raised the gun and shot Gerald. His girlfriend
ran. She didn't think, she just ran for her life. Ury chased
her through the store, shooting at her at least once, but he missed.
Gerald's girlfriend was able to get out of the store through the back exit,
and Yuri followed out the same way. He shot at her again,
but thankfully he missed again. She got away and Yuri walked back into the
store once more. Twenty nine year old Gerald Gallian was a giving person who
practiced and preached love over hate. He was the first to jump in to
help someone else, and he loved his family above all else. Gerald leaves
behind two sisters, a mother and a four year old daughter who will miss
out on knowing the truly honorable her father was. He was planning to spend
the weekend with his little girl before he was ruthlessly murdered in a single act
of pure hate. At one fourteen, Yuri walked into the back office and
took out his phone. He drafted a text to his father, which was
sent at one eighteen p m. The message instructed his dad to enter Ury's
room, but he had to pry the door open with a screwdriver. His
dad got the message, read it and went to his son's room, where
he located two documents, a suicide note and a last will and testament.
It's not clear when the message was read, but at one fifty three PM,
Yury's dad called nine one one to report his son as an active shooter.
He told the dispatcher that Yuri was taking lexapro and had been seeking help
from a psychiatrist. However, there was a full bottle of medication that was
just filled on July twenty third, so it appeared that Uray stopped taking the
medication altogether, which in and of itself is a bad idea. Any type
of antidepressant or psychiatric drug should be weaned down, not abruptly stopped the nine
to one to one. Audio from this call will be played now. Okay,
do you know where he is right now? No, I'm sorry,
I'm a little upset. No, you're fine, sir. If he said
anything like this before when he was fifteen, he left the note a suicide
note, and got on his bike and was headed downtown to jump off a
building. And does your son go anywhere that you know of it is?
They're like call and say no, No, he doesn't go anywhere. Oh,
he doesn't go anywhere. Yeah, he plunked out a flagular college,
moved home about a couple of years ago, had a job for a while
at home depot and lost that job, and pretty much living in his room
ten milligram tablets. But it doesn't look like he's been taken on. This
was filled July twenty third in the bottles full. At one nineteen pm,
police officers entered the Dollar General and heard one single gunshot. They didn't know
it at the time, but that final shot was Yuri taking his own life.
By three point forty four pm, a swat team confirmed that Yuri was
dead. There were at least three manifestos located on Yuri's person. One was
addressed to his parents, one to the news media, and the third was
to federal agents. Each document was a bone chilling account of how strongly he
desired to murder black people. It was disgusting, disturbing, and carried out
with precision. Each of the shooting victims was black and was the intended target
of a racist individual whose horrific words do not bear repeating or releasing into the
world. After searching his home, a manifesto found in Yuri's room was thirty
pages long and what the Clay County Sheriff described as quote the diary of a
madman. Several electronic devices were seized and examined, and there was a substantial
amount of data recovered, including several writings Yuri made. They all described his
deep hatred against all black people. Yori believed he was superior because of his
own race, yet his distaste for anyone different also extended to the LGBTQ plus
community, and he uttered a substantial number of anti Semitic comments as well.
There was no evidence that Yori belonged to any kind of hate group. He
was a lone wolf, solitary, isolated, and brimming with malignity. Each
of the weapons Yuri carried had swastikas etched into the sides. The firearms were
purchased legally, as he had no criminal history that would prevent him from obtaining
a gun. Photos were taken of Yori's bedroom, and they showed a bedside
table that held multiple bottles of booze and prescription drug containers. A sign bearing
the quote joined the Revolution was hung on one wall, and several books about
guns were discovered, including one that was titled The Christian and his Machine Gun.
Whether coincidental or not, and it's not likely a coincidence. The shooting
fell five years to the date after the shooting at a Jacksonville video game tournament,
which we covered in episode seventy four. Yori was born on November twenty
eight, two thousand and one. He attended Oak Leaf High School, where
a former classmate described Yori as quote introverted, socially awkward, and very involved
in internet humor. After graduation, Yori enrolled at Flagler College, but he
was soon dropped for poor academic performance. He landed a job at a local
home depot, but that didn't last long and he was apparently let go from
the job for reasons unknown. Yori's father said later that after he lost the
job at home depot, Yori retreated to his bedroom, where he spent the
majority of his time. In twenty sixteen, police were dispatched to Yori's home
for a domestic disturbance, which was actually a fight between Yori and his brother.
No arrests were made. At the time of the shooting, Yori's brother
was serving a jail sentence for armed robbery. Little else is known about his
family. On July sixth, twenty seventeen, there was an incident when fifteen
year old Yori claimed to be overwhelmed by stress and indicated that he was going
to ride his bike to the Bank of America Tower in Jacksonville and jump off.
He left a suicide note and took off. The police were contacted,
but before they could find Yury, his mother located him and brought him home.
A state rule called the Baker Act was enacted, allowing for an individual
to be detained for seventy two hours pending a mental health evaluation. After the
three day hold Yury was released, and because there is no commitment order,
there was absolutely nothing barring Yury from legally purchasing the firearms he used to murder
three innocent people. Reducing or closing these loopholes, or perhaps even enhancing existing
laws, is quite possibly one of the common sense ways we can enact sensical
gun control laws that are meant to protect individuals suffering from mental health issues from
harming themselves or others. Yury worked at a local Dollar Tree from October twenty
twenty one to July twenty twenty two, but there are no reports or accounts
of any issues that would suggest the reason why he chose one of the discount
stores to attack. As previously mentioned, he had no real criminal record,
just a speeding ticket from June twenty eighth, twenty twenty three, where he
was reportedly in a two thousand and four Honda Element on Old Middleburg Road driving
at a speed of forty one miles per hour in a thirty five mile per
hour zone. His social media presence was minimal. He didn't seem to have
any accounts outside of an x formerly known as Twitter account. On that account,
you redescribed himself as someone who consumed far too much Arizona iced tea drinks,
and he claimed to be an oak Leaf High School graduate with a three
point five GPA. He also called himself certified in Adobe Illustrator CS six,
Adobe in Design, and Adobe Photoshop. His last post hosts were in twenty
nineteen, and one such post included his acceptance letter to Flagler College along with
a caption quote looking forward to a bright career in business administration. The parents
of the victims filed a wrongful death lawsuit against both the Dollar General and the
shooter's parents, claiming that the retail giant neglected to take adequate steps to ensure
customer and employee safety. The suit further cites Dollar General failed to ensure that
there was proper security at the store, particularly given the fact that the stores
located in a known high crime location. The shooter's parents were blamed for failing
to protect the public from quote reasonably foreseeable criminal acts which were likely committed by
their son. Occupational Safety and Health Administration also known as OSHA, initiated an
investigation in a Dollar General after discovering the hotchpotch of merchandise, shopping carts,
boxes and stock that littered the eyeways, which may have prohibited the ability of
customers and employees to easily flee the store. The full report has not been
released at the time of this writing. We all have the unique ability to
help prevent such a catastrophic event from happening if we keep our eyes and ears
open and never hesitate to report when something or someone just doesn't seem right.
With the delicate balance of mental health reform, education, active shooter training,
and common sense gun laws, we may one day realize the dream, the
dream that there will be no more active shootings. We pray that love will
prevail over hate. Too many have died, we should say to ourselves,
not one more. In the meantime, we urge our listeners to stay aware
of your surroundings and keep in touch with your loved ones. If you see
something, say something, you never know how many lives you'll be saving.
Thank you for listening to today's episode of Active Shooter the podcast. Remember,
if you see something, say something, there's no telling how many lives you
may be saving. A big thank you to Darren Curtis, who composed some
of the songs on our show. You can find him online at www Dot
Darrencurtis music dot com. Make sure to check us out on social media.
You can find us on Facebook at Active Shooter the Podcast and on Twitter at
podcast Active. Thank you and be safe.