Suspected Gunman in Buffalo Mass Shooting Is 18 Year Old From Conklin
The suspect accused of killing at least ten people at a Tops Friendly Market grocery store in Buffalo, New York, on Saturday, May 14, has been identified as an 18-year-old teen from Conklin by the Associated Press.
Authorities say that Payton Gendron was taken into custody at the scene of the shootings and is facing first-degree murder charges in New York and could also be facing federal charges, including hate crimes.
A racist and anti-Semitic manifesto and a Twitch livestream were attributed online to Gendron who said in the manifesto that he is an 18-year-old college student and a white supremacist. Authorities have yet to verify the accounts.
The shooting took place in a predominantly black neighborhood only a few mile from downtown Buffalo. 11 of the victims are Black and two of the victims are white.
Law enforcement officials told the Associated Press that the suspect was “wearing military-style clothing in addition to the body armor and a helmet’. Other witnesses on the scene reported the shooter appeared to be a white male sporting “full camo, a black helmet and what appeared to be a rifle.”
Buffalo police confirmed in a press conference that the suspect was living streaming the shooting from a camera on his helmet.
According to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, President Biden was briefed by his Homeland Security advisor on the shooting and is receiving regular updates on the situation.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul flew to Buffalo and in a press conference, Hochul called the shootings an "act of terrorism" and noted that the suspect would be "prosecuted as such." She also states that the FBI was securing the suspect's home in the Southern Tier in order to "amass as much evidence as humanly possible in the very near term."
Gendron was questioned by the FBI and according to Buffalo News, went before a Buffalo City judge on a first-degree murder charge on Saturday night. Gendron pleaded not guilty and was remanded without bail. Gendron is scheduled to appear in court again at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, May, 19, 2022.
Images From Mass Shooting in Buffalo
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