Northern Ocean County named in Buffalo shooter's 180-page diatribe, Sheriff says

Locations in northern Ocean County were among areas mentioned in a 180-page document reportedly posted by the New York man accused of shooting 13 people, killing 10, at a Buffalo, New York supermarket, Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy said Sunday.

"We reached out to those communities earlier today, and are working with our partners, departments and chiefs," he said. "We monitor the activity at those locations."

The suspected gunman, Payton Gendron, 18, targeted Tops Friendly Market, a grocery store in a predominantly Black neighborhood, on Saturday. Eleven of the 13 people shot are Black, according to reports.

Gendron posted the document to Google Docs two days before the shooting, according to NBC News.

Gendron's document specifically referenced Hasidic Jewish residents of Lakewood and Toms River, according to the Lakewood Scoop. The Asbury Park Press was not immediately able to independently verify the information.

"We monitor the activity throughout the county on a constant basis, not just when an incident happens," Mastronardy said.

Lakewood Mayor Raymond Coles said many schools, synagogues and churches throughout the township now employ security.

"We're always on guard for anything in a town like this," he said. "I can't go into a lot of the details, but the Police Department is very aware of any active threats. They take anything like that very seriously."

Toms River Mayor Maurice "Mo" Hill said police there would support all residents, regardless of race, ethnicity or religion.

"We will defend and protect all our residents," he said. "I have confidence in both our police department and the sheriff's officers. We're not going to let anything happen to any of our residents."

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Many local police departments do not make known their specific safety strategies following a national incident of targeted violence; however, in Ocean County, law enforcement was already on high alert due to growing tensions nationally on a variety of topics, Mastronardy said. The county's different houses of worship are one such priority, especially as tensions mount in response to abortion rights, the sheriff said.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to overturn federal protections on access to abortion, a right that dates back to the court's 1973 decision in the historic case known as Roe v. Wade.

"Right now we have some concerns with the Catholic Church with the abortion issue," Mastronardy said.

The Catholic Church is one of the nation's prime opponents of abortion.

Mastronardy also said law enforcement is working to protect local mosques, because of national incidents of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim violence.

Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers Brick, Barnegat and Lacey townships as well as the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than a decade. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Ocean County NJ locations named in Buffalo NY shooter's diatribe