Buffalo shooting: Biden, first lady travel to N.Y. to speak with families, first responders

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are seen walking to the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 5. On Tuesday, both will visit Buffalo, N.Y., to meet with authorities and relatives of the victims of the shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., last weekend. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo

May 17 (UPI) — President Joe Biden will travel to upstate New York on Tuesday to meet with community leaders and families of the victims who were killed last weekend in a mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket.

The attack on Saturday at the TOPS Market killed 10 people and injured a few others. It was the deadliest of multiple attacks that occurred in the United States last weekend. Police say they’re investigating the attack as a hate crime.

The president and first lady Jill Biden were scheduled to leave Washington, D.C., at about 8:30 a.m. EDT Tuesday and arrive in Buffalo roughly 90 minutes later.

After meeting with victims’ relatives, Biden is scheduled to give remarks at 1 p.m.

“In the afternoon, the president and the first lady will meet with families of victims, law enforcement and first responders, and community leaders to grieve and offer their condolences,” the White House said in a statement.

FBI agents investigate the scene of the mass shooting on Saturday at a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., that killed 10 people. Photo by Aaron Josefczyk/UPI

“They will comfort the families of the 10 people whose lives were senselessly taken in this horrific shooting,” new White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a briefing Monday.

“And they will express gratitude for the bravery of members of law enforcement and other first responders who took immediate action to try to protect and save lives.”

Authorities say the suspected shooter, 18-year-old Payton Gendron, was motivated by hate when he opened fire at the store. He’d written a lengthy manifesto before the attack in which he communicated racist views against people of color, they said. He traveled about 200 miles to Buffalo from his home in another part of New York.

A manager at the store said that she’d kicked Gendron out of the building on Friday, the day before the attack, because he’d been bothering customers.

Shonnell Harris Teague told ABC News that Gendron had sat on a bench outside the store on for several hours with a camper bag on his back, dressed in the same camouflage outfit that he wore during the assault Saturday.

Authorities said they believe that Gendron had planned on carrying out more shootings in other locations before he was stopped at the TOPS store.

Investigators are expected to release more information about the shooting later Tuesday.

A group prays in the street on Sunday near the site of the mass shooting on Saturday at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y. Photo by Aaron Josefczyk/UPI | License Photo