Florida Attack, Bob Barker, and the First Day of School

Attack in Florida

Three Black shoppers were killed in a Jacksonville, Florida, Dollar General store Saturday after a shooter equipped with body armor and armed with at least a high-powered rifle and a handgun opened fire at the store. The shooter, who was white, fatally shot himself at the scene as officers arrived. 

Officials quickly described the attack as overtly racially motivated. Ryan Palmeter, 21, who lived in the neighboring county, reportedly sent messages to the media, authorities, and his family ahead of the attack. Officials also said they found hand-drawn swastikas on the weapons used in the attack. 

According to police statements, Palmeter had been detained under the Baker Act in 2017—a state law allowing involuntary medical confinement for those at risk of self-harm or causing harm to others. Authorities said the weapons were legally purchased earlier this year. 

The killings echoed recent racially motivated mass shootings, including last year's attack at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, which left 10 people dead. 

Bob Barker Dies

Bob Barker, the iconic host of the longest-running game show in North America, "The Price is Right," died Saturday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 99.

Born in 1923, Barker was raised in South Dakota's Rosebud Indian Reservation, where he was an enrolled member (see bio), rising to fame in 1956 as host of the game show "Truth or Consequences." In 1972, he was chosen to helm the daytime game show "The Price is Right," for which he would go on to win 18 Daytime Emmys and a Lifetime Achievement Award for his over 35 years as host. A lifelong animal welfare activist, he reportedly quit hosting the Miss America pageant after contestants began wearing animal furs. He was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2004.

Barker reached cult status in the 1996 comedy "Happy Gilmore," where, playing himself, he beat up the character played by Adam Sandler. See his life in photos here. 

US Military Crash

At least three US Marines were killed and 20 others injured after a military aircraft crashed on Australia's Melville Island over the weekend. The troops were participating in an annual warfighting exercise with partners from the South Pacific. 

According to reports, the downed craft was a Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey—a tiltrotor aircraft that combines the vertical takeoff of helicopters with the forward flying of propeller planes (see video). The incident is the third fatal crash of an Osprey during training exercises, causing at least 12 deaths. The cause of yesterday's crash has yet to be determined. 

The complex design and capabilities of the Osprey have given rise to both a number of critics and proponents. Read about the history of the craft and the debate over its use here. 

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