♪ something instead been having revelations ♪ ♪ coming to, in the front seat nearly empty ♪ ♪ skip the exit to our old street and go home ♪ [ cheering and applause ] this is "nightline." >> tonight, rampage of hate. chilling new details of that deadly shooting at a jacksonville dollar general. >> i guess he would appear to

wear a tactical vest. >> a white gunman killing three black people. >> this shooting was racially motivated and he hated black people. >> families in mourning remembering their loved ones. >> she is resting in peace, but it wasn't her time. >> she didn't have to go out like that. he didn't even do anything wrong. >> and what happened hours before the shooting. plus, nightclub nightmare. a night of fun and partying in new york city ending with blackouts, overdose, and empty bank accounts. >> they were able to get into my phone, my bank account, my venmo. >> some didn't survive. >> katie didn't want to die. katie loved life. she had goal. she had aspirations. >> how investigators connected the dots in the drug-fueled robbery spree. >> detectives investigated 17 similar incidents. >> could have be more victims? >> "nightline" will be right back. oh stuffed up again?

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but do they really? do they see all that you are? at kaiser permanente all of us work together to care for all that is you. going. thank you for joining us. we begin with the recurring american nightmare, gun violence. the terrifying scene tooth today at the university of north carolina chapel hill. parents across the nation watching in horror unfolded. just days after the start of the school year, students scrambling

for safety as police search for a, quote, armed and dangerous suspect. police later arresting a graduate student who allegedly shot and killed a faculty member. a and now to that deadly hate crime shooting in jacksonville, florida over the weekend. a white gunman opening fire at a dollar general store, killing three people, all black, before turning the gun on himself. disturbing new details and remembering the lives lost. here is abc's alex presha. >> i have no doubt in my mind that she is in heaven. she is resting in peace. but it wasn't her time. >> reporter: her mother's life cut short. arbery carr has chosen strength and resilience in the face of immeasurable loss. angela carr, the first victim killed in saturday's mass shooting in jacksonville, florida. >> she died alone. she died alone. and that hurts. and i don't care what we've ever

been through, that's my mom. that's my mom is gone. but i have to be strong because i'm the oldest. if i don't, she'll never be remembered. everything that she stood for and was here for will be in vain. >> reporter: once again, a community heartbroken, gathering in the aftermath of gun violence and racism in america. >> i'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. >> reporter: after a white gunman waited outside this dollar general targeting black people. the fbi announcing today that the shooting is being looked at as both a domestic terror and hate crime investigation. just before the shooting, the suspect, identified as 21-year-old ryan palmeter was spotted outside of edward waters university, a historically black christian college. this video showing the suspect donning a tactical vest and blue latex gloves. students flagging down a security guard. what's going through your mind? >> that there is something wrong.

i was not able to see a weapon at the time. however, i did see what appeared to be a tactical vest, a mask, along with a hat covering his head at that time. >> reporter: authorities say the suspect then hopped the curb and fled, soon arriving at the dollar general. surveillance video capturing the deadly rampage, which lasted 11 minutes. the shooter, without warning, firing 11 rounds into 52-year-old angela michelle carr's kia, killing her, and then walking inside and killing anolt laguerre jr., an employee who was shot as he tried to flee. >> i really want the world to know who aj was. low maintenance guy that is so genuine and so pure. all he was doing is just at work. he was just at work, man. >> reporter: minutes later, 29-year-old jerrald gallion entered the store with his girlfriend. his girlfriend escaping as the gunman chased her through the store and shot at her four

times. but galleon was killed, leaving behind a 4-year-old daughter. >> never missed a beat in his daughter's life from birth to his life was taken away, he never missed a beat. >> reporter: ten minutes into the heinous act, the gunman sends a text. >> the suspect texts his father and says "use a screwdriver to get into my room." the father enters the room and finds a last will and testament of the suspect along with a suicide note on his laptop. >> reporter: abc news obtaining this distressed 911 call his father made to police. >> he left in his car a couple of hours ago. >> reporter: his father stating that his son had been suicidal before and was receiving psychiatric help, but had stopped taking medication. >> does your son go anywhere that you know of? a college that he goes to? >> no. he doesn't go anywhere. >> reporter: by that time, the rampage was already over, the shooter taking his oh own life as officers closed in. investigators finding disturbing writings the shooter had with

him. >> portions of the manifesto detail the shooter's disgusting ideology of hate. plainly put, this shooting was racially motivated and he hated black people. he wanted to kill [ bleep ]. that's the one and only time i'll use that word. >> reporter: the gunman was armed the with a glock 20 handgun and an ar-15 style rifle he painted swastikas on, according to authorities. both firearms had been purchased legally. the suspect had no criminal record, and at 2017 involuntary psychiatric evaluation was not required to be disclosed. >> there is nothing we could have done to stop him of owning a firearm, a rifle or a handgun there was no red flags. >> reporter: today president biden condemning the mass shooting at a reception to commemorate the anniversary of martin luther king's march on washington for civil rights. >> white supremacy is the greatest terrorist threat we face in the homeland, the greatest threat. we have to act. we have to act. >> reporter: and back in jacksonville tonight, a community shattered, but not

broken. >> i mean, we have seen the cases come through from trayvon martin to george floyd. but i hope that this really does spark something. love each other how you want to be loved. >> byron: our thanks to alex. coming up, nightclub nightmare. how the nypd cracked two robbery and drugging rings that allegedly targeted people out for a night of party. it's a great lot. and the previous owner was really into diy... okay... automatic shades. stair slide! at least we could bundle our home and car insurance with geico. true. - super slippery. whoo! is that a chinchilla? yes! wait till you see this. a murphy tub! finding a perfect home is hard. thankfully, geico makes it easy to bundle and save. whaaaat??

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a night life mystery playing out in new york city. the nypd receiving dozens of reports of people waking up dazed and confused, drugged and robbed after a night out at bars, some even ending up dead. the victims' families demanding action. and after months of investigating, police now say they have some answers. here is abc's severe osunsami. >> i remember sitting in the bar, and then waking up in a hotel lobby. >> they were able to get into my phone. the financial toll was around $20,000 >> reporter: people who were out trying to have a good time in new york city nightclubs were waking up confused and in strange places. >> she was out with friends. and i don't know if he followed her when she split from the friends, or it happened right outside of her apartment building. >> reporter: they'd find

themselves in cold back seats or on cold floors. >> john had just gone out to a club, had been robbed. someone took his phone and his cards. >> reporter: or they weren't waking up at all. and at the time, it wasn't clear why. >> no one's heard from him. i asked my mom if she heard from him. and she was kind of worried too. >> this is where john's body was found and where john was staying while he was here in new york. >> reporter: family from across the country were having to fly in to the big city to take home the bodies of their dead children. >> all we knew that he was dead, and that was it. >> katie didn't want to die. katie loved life. she had goals. she had aspirations. >> reporter: the dangers of a hot night out and criminals putting drugs in drinks are well-known and not just in the bars of new york, but the series of new york drugs that started about two years ago were a mystery. at first, police believed the victims were people who were overdosing on recreational

drugs. >> i was approached by two gentlemen under the guys of flirting with me and wanting to come home with me from the bar. >> reporter: brian luke says he doesn't hide the fact that he took two men home to have sex this night in december of 2021. they're seen here on this security camera, walking into his apartment building together. he believes they gave him drugs meant to knock him out, and then used his own face to unlock his phone. and he says he is thankful, because in his case he woke up. >> my memory from that point is pretty fuzzy. they were able to get into my phone, my bank account, my venmo, all of the financial apps that are on my phone. >> reporter: it would take authorities several months to discover that they might have a ring or two of dangerous criminals running the streets. >> detectives investigated 17 similar incidents occurring between september 19th, 2021, and august 28th, 2022.

>> say his name! >> julio ramirez. >> reporter: people in the queer community were marching, acc accusing new york police of not taking the cases seriously because most of the victims were gay men. >> i think that people get targeted just because they're an opportunity to get robbed. >> reporter: police were telling them that the victims weren't just gay, and what police didn't say at first is that there was a group of thieves who they were trying to find. >> while the many members, or many victims in this case are part of the lgbtq ai community, the motive was for robbery. the motive was for monetary gain. >> reporter: then seven people died between april and december of last year. had you heard anything about these drugging deaths at the nightclubs in new york city before this point? >> no. we hadn't. i don't know if katie had. >> reporter: it was something completely foreign to you? >> yeah, shocking. well, it just shattered my life. i mean -- >> reporter: one of them was

36-year-old katie gallagher, who was not gay. she was an up and coming fashion designer, who police now say was drugged outside her apartment in what they say was an attempted robbery. >> she was artistic. >> athletic. >> athletic. >> fun-loving. >> reporter: her father is retired high school history teacher, and her mother a retired nurse who live in this suburban pennsylvania neighborhood. >> that's her. >> that's her. she is on the cover. >> reporter: the magazine photos they keep of the clothing she designed for famous names they barely know mean a lot more to them now. >> this is the spring dress. so lady gaga saw this dress. >> she tried it on. >> reporter: over the years their daughter would show her dresses at the world famous new york fashion week. but on the night she died she still had trouble paying her rent and had nothing to steal. >> so katie looked like she was doing okay. >> reporter: but she was trying to make it still? >> yes, she was. but she wouldn't give it up. >> some day your ship will come

in. who knows? it might be a little design you have that might take off. >> reporter: you knew from right the beginning. >> right. >> reporter: there was no your daughter had done this to ourselves. >> when i heard the overdose thing, all these things went through my mind. is there something i don't know about my daughter? and how could this be true. >> reporter: at first authorities were telling the family of 25-year-old julio ramirez that he also died the same way. were they telling you it was an overdose? >> it was an accidental overdose and that it was hard to prove that someone did this to him. >> reporter: and did you believe that? >>, no absolutely not. i knew for a fact that, you know, someone did this to him. >> reporter: the young social worker lost his life in the back of a cab after he was seen leaving this bar with three men. his older brother, carlos ramirez says it took nearly a year the get the toxicology report, and it confirmed what he knew in his heart, that this was a homicide. his brother's bank accounts were drained three days after he

died, and police found multiple drugs, including fentanyl in his system. >> yeah, that was hard, you know, just to hear all that was in his body and was given to him. >> reporter: but it was the death of 33-year-old john umberger that's now leading to real answers. and it's largely because his mother from outside atlanta has loudly refused to believe that her son died of an overdose after a night on the town. >> we do not want john's death in any way to be in vain. >> reporter: we went with her on one of her many trips to new york with family and friends where she is putting pressure on authorities to dig deeper. >> we have to keep showing up and to keep saying this is not right. >> i also believed there are countless cases of victims who were too embarrassed, ashamed to come forward. >> reporter: yeah. >> and i would urge them, please come forward. >> reporter: police found her son dead in this new york apartment after he was seen

leaving this bar with at least two men on a saturday night. he too had fentanyl in his system. but this time investigators tracked an suv, a red dodge durango like this one seen outside the apartment that led them to one of the alleged killers. and police say that the big break was two cell phone videos. >> they recorded the video of my child, my son john dying. and not only do they record it and they do nothing, but they snicker in the background. >> reporter: obviously difficult to process. >> yes, that is very difficult. >> reporter: yeah, yeah. i'm sorry. >> thank you. >> today we are announcing a final apprehension has been made in a long-term investigation into several crimes. >> reporter: so far at least five men are facing charges. 35-year-old jayqwan hamilton,

30-year-old jacob barroso, and 34-year-old robert demaio are facing a list of murder, robbery and assault charges for the deaths of julio ramirez, john umberger, and at least 17 drugs in the new york city area. >> we ultimately cracked this case with the durango ties it to demaio, the cell phone and then we get the video. >> the victim is seen on the bed apparently unconscious in the same pose he was later found deceased. >> reporter: all three are pleading not guilty. a lawyer for barroso, the youngest has all of the sudden maintained innocence. police have arrested 34-year-old kenwood allen and 36-year-old sean shirley who are accused in 26 robberies where five people died, and one of them was katie gallagher. >> that's the tricky point in overdoses. i have to prove that i gave you this drug with the intent to rob you. we arrest people numerous time on grand larcenies and robberies. they just got right back out.

it want able? we were able to charge them with the homicides too with the robberies that we were able to keep them in jail. >> reporter: we were with linda clary on her way to court when one of the men accused in her son's killing was formally charged. >> seeing a face, i have prayed for this man and will continue to do so. >> reporter: in court she joined the family of julio ramirez. the judge kept the men in jail. >> it was important for me to be there for the arraignment. as difficult as it was, to see the man who killed my son. i have committed for the sake of my own soul to be able to forgive him. >> reporter: each of these families say they'd like to ask young people to try and take much better care of themselves when they're out at night. >> you know, we can't bring our children back this side of heaven, but we can make a difference and make sure it doesn't happen to anybody else. >> reporter: and that's what you really want to do now?

>> yes. >> reporter: how do you feel about these people who are now charged? >> i should maybe forgive, and i should have some goodness. i shouldn't have that in my heart. and i -- maybe i'll get there. but as of now, i'm not there yet. >> reporter: . >> if i don't forgive, i'm only putting that rock in my own soul. i would rather throw that rock back out to that guy. that's my opinion. >> i can't forgive right now. maybe in time. but i even told the priest that. i'm sorry, but i just can't do it right now. >> reporter: yeah, yeah. >> our daughter, her whole future, our future with her. how do you forgive that? i don't know. >> byron: our thanks to steve. we'll be right back. somedays, i cover up because of my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now i feel free to bare

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