JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A lot has changed in the Grand Park neighborhood in Northwest Jacksonville over the last year following the racially motivated shooting that left three people dead at a Dollar General store.
The Dollar General store on Kings Road has reopened, and the makeshift memorials honoring the victims are still out front.
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Though life has gone on, for Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan, it’s hard to believe it’s been one year.
“I think it was such a defining moment for me because it came so shortly after I was elected,” Deegan said. “It really has stayed with me for so many reasons. One, because it was one of those first crises that I had to deal with. But then, the fact that it felt so personal to me and to the community because of the hate that was involved.”
On Aug. 26, 2023, a 21-year-old gunman from Clay County first opened fire outside of the store. Once entering, he continued his rampage before turning the gun on himself.
At the end of the attack, Jerrald Gallion, Angela Carr, and Anolt “AJ” Laguerre, Jr. were dead.
The gunman’s manifesto, later released to the public by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, made it clear he hated the Black race and intended to kill Black people.
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“The whole thing was just shocking to begin with,” Deegan said. “But then as the details came out, of exactly what happened and why it happened, and then the details of the note and everything else, it became more and more horrifying.”
Though the shooting was horrifying, Jacksonville has a history of racial violence.
In 1960, a racially motivated attack occurred in downtown Jacksonville. A group of white men used baseball bats and ax handles to attack Black people engaged in sit-in protests opposing segregation. The event became known as Ax Handle Saturday. Four years later, Johnnie Mae Chappell, a 35-year-old wife and mother of 10, was gunned down by a group of white men in a car as she looked for her wallet on the side of the road. Deegan said these stories of the past, coupled with the attack last year, are proof there is more work to be done.
“Absolutely, we’ve gotten better,” Deegan said. “These horrific things that happened, though, have to become a focus for us so that we don’t forget them. We have to work intentionally toward lifting those neighborhoods.”
Deegan said that means making good on the broken promises of consolidation. She said she hopes to do that through projects with the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for districts 8, 9, and 10 (Grand Park is included). Scroll down to view the complete list of CIP projects for these districts.
The 32209 ZIP code, where the Dollar General store is located, is known as “Health Zone 1.”
The life expectancy in Health Zone 1 is 68 years old. According to the city, if this census track was a country, it would rank as low as the 159th country in the world. Data shows the area also struggles with higher rates of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, asthma, and mental illness.
City leaders said health insurance sign-ups are encouraged to increase the life expectancy in the vulnerable community. According to the city, the sign-ups in Health Zone 1 went from 19,562 in 2023 to 33,907 in 2024.
The city also said an African American Advisory Board to act as a liaison between the city government and the Black community is also being created.
The mayor said one thing that did come directly from the tragedy is the Jacksonville Transformation Coalition. Though it’s an ongoing effort, Deegan said it is made up of city leaders, faith leaders, businesses, and non-profits working together to fight hate. Ultimately, the goal is to make Jacksonville a place for everyone to thrive, no matter who they are or where they come from.
“All of us meeting together, in large groups and breaking into committees to discuss how can we collectively move the dial for our city on racial disparities,” Deegan said. “On all kinds of hate, anti-semitism. What can we do together to move that dial?”
Deegan said more information and initiatives from the Transformation Coalition will be unveiled in the coming months, and added that through this tragedy, this is another push to learn from each other and love one another.
“It has been my absolute belief and still will always be my belief, but if we’re not talking, if we’re not looking at each other face to face,” Deegan explained. “Seeing each other’s humanity and having those discussions, we’re not ever going to move forward in the way that we want to.”
On Sunday, one day before the one-year mark, the community is invited to attend a memorial and soil collection ceremony to pay tribute to the victims and survivors.
A historical marker will be unveiled at the event at Kings Road and Almeda. The ceremony will begin at 3 p.m.
CIP projects for Districts 8-10
Read below the list of projects in the Capital Improvement Plan for Districts 8, 9 and 10.
District 8
- Thomas Creek Fish Camp Kayak Launch ($200,000 in FY25)
- Oceanway Library Replacement ($3,000,000 in FY25)
- Acree Road Bridge Replacement ($11,000,000 in FY27)
- Angel Lakes Sidewalks & Drainage ($6,000,000 total in FY 25-26)
- Oceanway Community Center Septic ($215,000 in FY 26)
- Duval Station Road Pedestrian Signal ($1,010,000 total in FY 26-27)
- New Berlin Road Work ($30,000,000 total in FY 25-26)
- Armsdale Road Drainage ($5,100,000 in FY25)
District 9
- Mallison Park ($1,000,000 in FY29)
- Wayne B. Stevens Boat Ramp ($165,000 in FY25)
- Frye Ave. W. Road Work ($100,000 in FY25)
- Charles Webb Wesconnett Library Roof ($380,000 in FY27)
- McCoys Creek Greenway ($5,000,000 in FY25)
- McCoys Channel Improvements ($2,000,000 in FY25)
- McCoys Creek Branches ($10,354,188 in FY25)
- Woodside Street Drainage ($625,000 in FY27)
- I-10 to Ramona Outfall Ditch ($500,000 in FY27)
- Hollybrooke Park ($29,800,000)
- Upstream Fishing Creek Drainage ($2,818,000 total in FY27/29)
District 10
- Fire Station #67 ($13,300,000 in FY 26)
- Brentwood Golf Course ($2,000,000 in FY29)
- Lonnie Miller Regional Park Renovation ($20,000,000 total in FY26/28)
- Belvedere Street Sidewalks ($500,000 in FY27)
- Golfair Blvd. Pedestrian Signal ($600,000 in FY29)
- Soutel Corridor Improvements ($1,875,000 in FY25)
- Trout River Blvd. Sidewalk ($1,800,000 in FY26-27)
- Ash Site Pollution Remediation ($10 million total in FY25-29)
- Hema Road Dump ($6,250,000 total in FY25-28)
- Channel Lining Drainage ($1,500,000 in FY25)