At least 10 people have been killed in a mass shooting at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, New York on Saturday, according to law enforcement officials who spoke to the Associated Press.
At a news conference, Erie County Sheriff John Garcia called the shooting “pure evil” during the news conference.
“It was straight-up, racially motivated hate crime from somebody outside of our community,” he said.
The US Attorney’s Office announced that the FBI was investigating the shooting, which occurred around 2:30 p.m., as a hate crime and racially motivated violent extremism. Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said he planned to arraign the shooter, who was not immediately identified, on first-degree murder charges soon.
The shooting took place at Tops Friendly Market on Jefferson Avenue, in the neighborhood of Masten Park, a predominately Black neighborhood.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia described the shooter as an 18-year-old white man, and told reporters that he was wearing tactical gear and using a camera to livestream the attack.
Gramaglia said the shooter started opening fire in the parking lot before making his way inside the store, where he continued shooting people until police officers were able to talk him into dropping his weapon.
Mark Poloncranz, who is the Erie County executive and was on the ground with fellow local officials at the supermarket shooting aftermath, tweeted that it was a “horrible day in the history our community.”
“Like too many communities in our nation, we’ve been impacted by the horror or a mass shooting,” he added. “My thoughts are about the deceased and with their families at this terrible time.”
Videos posted to social media from different angles appear to show two bodies in the parking lot outside the supermarket surrounded by first responders.
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/amberjamieson/buffalo-tops-supermarket-mass-shooting