Buffalo shooting: Attack racially motivated; 18-year-old shooter lived 200 miles away

Buffalo, N.Y. — An 18-year-old man drove hours from a county in New York state before opening fire at a Buffalo supermarket in what high-ranking police and government officials are calling a racially motivated attack that left 10 people dead.

The gunman – sporting a rifle and body armor – shot 13 people at the Tops Friendly Market on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo before he was taken into custody Saturday afternoon, according to law enforcement officials.

The gunman was identified as Payton Gendron, of Conklin, about 200 miles southeast of Buffalo, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. The officials were not permitted to speak publicly on the matter and did so on the condition of anonymity.

Gendron, who was scheduled to be arraigned Saturday night, is white and 11 of the 13 victims were Black, law enforcement officials said at a news conference late Saturday afternoon. He is expected to be charged with 1st degree murder.

The shooter livestreamed his attack on the grocery store, authorities said. He also is reported to have left a racist manifesto.

“It was a straight up racially-motivated hate crime,” Erie County Sheriff John C. Garcia said. “This person was pure evil.”

The supermarket is in a neighborhood that is 79 percent Black that’s located about 3 miles north of downtown Buffalo. The surrounding area is primarily residential, with a Family Dollar store and fire station near the store.

“We have evidence in custody right now that shows there is some racial component to these actions,” Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn said.

He said the evidence indicated the shooter was driven by “racial animosity.”

Stephen Belongia, who heads a local branch of the FBI, said that agency is investigating this “both as a hate crime and racially motivated violent extremism.”

At about 2:30 p.m., the man got out of his vehicle with an assault rifle and tactical gear, and shot four people in the parking lot of of the grocery store, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph A. Gramaglia said at the news conference. Three people died, and one person survived.

The man entered the store, and began shooting customers and staff, he said.

A security guard, a retired Buffalo police officer, fired multiple shots and hit the shooter, but the bullets did not penetrate the shooter’s heavy armor. The man shot and killed the security guard, Gramaglia said.

The shooter continued through the store shooting customers.

He made his way back to the front of the store where Buffalo police officers stopped him in the vestibule. The shooter then put the gun to his own neck.

The officers talked the shooter into dropping the gun and the shooter put down the gun, took off some of his armor and surrendered.

He was arrested and taken to Buffalo Police headquarters.

“This is a tragic incident by someone who’s not part of our community, who does not live here,” Gramaglia said.

Tops Friendly Markets released a statement: “We are shocked and deeply saddened by this senseless act of violence and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.”

Police closed off the block, lined by spectators, and yellow police taped surrounded the full parking lot.

Gov. Kathy Hochul tweeted that she was “closely monitoring the shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo,” her hometown. She said state officials have offered help to local authorities.

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz also expressed their condolences while speaking during the news conference Saturday night.

“We are hurting, and we are seething right now as a community,” Brown said. “This is a day of great pain.”

Staff writer James McClendon covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? Reach him at 914-204-2815 or jmcclendon@syracuse.com.

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