BUFFALO, N.Y. — A gunman opened fire with a rifle Saturday at a Tops Friendly Markets supermarket in Buffalo, New York, in what authorities called a “hate crime and racially motived violent extremism,” killing 10 people and wounding three others before being taken in custody, law enforcement officials said.
Police officials said the gunman opened fire with a rifle at around 2:30 p.m. Investigators believe he may have been streaming the shooting through a camera affixed to his helmet, one of the officials said.
The video showed the gunman pulling up to the front of the store with a rifle on the front seat and then pointing the rifle at people in the parking lot as he exited the vehicle and opening fire, the official said.
According to police, 13 people were shot in total, with three suffering apparent non-life-threatening injuries. Officials say four of the victims were employees. Erie County District Attorney John Flynn says 11 of the victims were African American, while two were white. The ages of the victims has not been released.
According to Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia, four victims were shot in the store’s parking lot, with three succumbing to injuries. Gramaglia says the suspect then went inside the store, and began engaging with those inside. Among those fatally shot was a security guard, who was a recently retired Buffalo police officer.
Gramaglia says police engaged the suspect in the store’s vestibule, at which point he put a gun to his neck own, but surrendered to authorities after officers worked to get him to drop his weapon.
The suspect was identified as Payton Gendron, an 18-year-old white male from 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.
The suspect was being questioned Saturday evening by the FBI, one of the officials said, and was expected to appear in court later Saturday. The suspect is a former student at SUNY Broome.
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