A self-identified white supremacist killed 10 people and injured three more in Buffalo, New York, on Saturday May 14 in a shooting that authorities said was a racially motivated hate crime.
The shooter, an 18-year-old white man, live-streamed his attack online and had an anti-Black racial slur visibly written on his gun. Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said 11 of the 13 people who were shot in the attack were Black.
This is the scene outside Tops on Jefferson Ave. where Buffalo Police say multiple people were shot. Waiting on more details. pic.twitter.com/FhPhbFkHiO
— Marlee Tuskes (@MarleeTuskesTV) May 14, 2022
Police identified the shooter as Payton Gendron and said the shooting took place at a grocery store in a predominantly Black neighborhood.
Investigators said they are reviewing a manifesto they suspect Gendron of posting online prior to his attack. In it, the author details their plans for the attack and their belief in the white extremist conspiracy theory that white populations are being deliberately replaced by immigrants.
President Joe Biden released a statement addressing the attack. “Any act of domestic terrorism, including an act perpetrated in the name of a repugnant white nationalist ideology, is antithetical to everything we stand for in America,” he said.
Eyewitnesses at the scene of the shooting reported seeing Gendron arrive at the store in military-style clothing holding a gun in his hands. Gendron reportedly started shooting people in the parking lot before moving inside the grocery store.
Police said Gendron was heavily armed and during an exchange of gunfire, his body armor repelled shots fired by the grocery store’s security guard and Gendron killed the guard.
The defendant, who was allegedly wearing tactical gear and armed with an assault weapon, is accused of intentionally killing ten people at the grocery store on Jefferson Avenue. Three people were injured by gunfire.
— Erie County District Attorney's Office (@DAErieCountyNY) May 15, 2022
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The shooting ended after Gendron surrendered to police officers at the scene. He now faces charges of first-degree murder and authorities said they are investigating the shooting as both a hate crime and a case of racially motivated violent extremism.
If convicted Gendron faces a life sentence in prison and potentially the death penalty.
