Shooting in Florida over dog sale kills 3 including 3-year-old

At least four people were shot in an apartment in Florida over a dispute that emerged during the sale of a dog, killing three people including a three-year-old, and injuring another, according to local officials, as witnesses saw people fleeing in a car after the deadly violence. 

Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Assistant Chief JD Stronko told reporters that five people, including the child, went to a luxury apartment complex at about 10pm Saturday to meet with some people concerning the sale of a dog.

Stronko said: "Gunfire broke out during an argument. The three victims were fatally struck and a third adult from the group was wounded." According to the media reports, witnesses told officers that two men fled in a car.

Stronko said the two adults killed and the one wounded were all in their 20s. Authorities did not release the names of the victims and did not provide further information about the condition of the wounded.

The violence came nearly a month after three black people were fatally shot including a woman after an armed suspect entered a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida and went on to kill people with an AR-style rifle before shooting himself.

Sheriff TK Waters had told reporters: "The shooter, a white male in his early 20s, was outfitted with a tactical vest and armed with an AR-style rifle and a handgun when he started firing inside a Dollar General discount store."

"He targeted a certain group of people and that's Black people. That's what he said he wanted to kill. And that's very clear," the sheriff said.

"There were two male victims and one female victim," according to the sheriff.

"Manifestos discovered by the gunman's family shortly before the attack detail the shooter's disgusting ideology of hate," he told reporters.

Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan earlier told local broadcaster WJXT: "There are a number of fatalities inside the store."

Mass shootings have become disturbingly common across the US, with easy access to firearms in most states and more guns in the country than citizens.