Buffalo shooting: What we know now about Payton Gendron, the victims and investigation

Vigils, prayer services and rallies were held across Buffalo on Sunday after authorities said a gunman, wearing tactical gear and a livestreaming camera, killed 10 people and wounded three more in a hate-fueled shooting rampage at a busy supermarket.

Eleven of the 13 people who were shot Saturday at the Tops Friendly Markets were Black, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said. The suspect, who was taken into custody at the scene, is white. The FBI is investigating the shooting as a hate crime and racially motivated violent extremism.

The suspect, Payton Gendron, 18, was charged with first-degree murder and officials said they will weigh additional charges in the coming days.

"This is the worst nightmare that any community can face," said Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown. "And we are hurting and we are seething right now as a community. The depth of pain that families are feeling and that all of us are feeling right now cannot even be explained."

Brown said what started as a beautiful Buffalo day "turned into one of tremendous heartbreak" when a gunman opened fire at a grocery store within city limits.

What happened at the Tops in Buffalo Saturday?

Around 2:30 p.m. Saturday, a heavily armed man dressed in military fatigues and tactical gear arrived at the Tops Friendly Markets store at 1275 Jefferson Ave. in Buffalo, said Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia. The man, who was armed with an assault-style rifle shot more than a dozen people at the store in a matter of minutes.

He shot four people in the parking lot, three of whom died at the scene. After he entered the store, "he began engaging customers inside the store".

A retired Buffalo police officer working in the store as a security guard confronted the shooter and shot him. Those bullets struck the attacker's tactical vest, preventing injury, Gramaglia said. The gunman returned fire and fatally shot the guard.

The shooter "worked his way through the store" firing at others, and in the store's lobby was confronted by Buffalo police. He pointed his own weapon at his head and police convinced the man to drop his gun and surrender.

Authorities say the gunman live-streamed the attack on social media. Footage shows the gunman, dressed in military gear, pulling up to the front of the store with a rifle on the front seat, then pointing the rifle at people in the parking lot as he exited the vehicle, opened fire and entered the store.

At a press briefing Sunday afternoon, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said that the accused gunman, Payton Gendron, was in the Buffalo area a day before the attack. It appears that he did reconnaissance inside the store and in the surrounding neighborhood.

"If someone out there believes they spoke to him, let us know," Gramaglia said.

Search warrants are being executed for the gunman's home, vehicle, phone and computers as well as his social media accounts.

Those social media accounts will help clarify the timeline of the incident. Gramaglia said that the first police officers arrived on the scene at 2:31 Saturday afternoon and immediately confronted the accused gunman, who put his gun underneath his chin.

"The officers used every de-escalation tactic they could to talk him down," Gramaglia said. "He didn’t point the gun toward officers, and the officers moved in very quickly to take him into custody."

Police said the gunman fired 50 rounds from his AR-15 rifle during the attack. They found two other firearms — a rifle and a shotgun — in his car.

Gramaglia said that New York State Police and FBI have spoken with Gendron's parents at their home in Conklin, Broome County. He said they have been cooperating with investigators but described them as "distraught."

The FBI has set up a tip line for anybody with information on the shooting and is asking anyone who has photos or video to share them at their website: FBI.gov/BuffaloShooting.

Live updates: Police say Payton Gendron threatened to attack his high school last year

Eyewitness account from inside the store

Jennifer Tookes of Buffalo was shopping inside the store when she heard multiple gunshots.

"I ran through the deli and out the back door to get away from him," Tookes said.

She circled back to the parking lot, where she saw several bodies on the ground in front of the store. She retrieved her phone from her car and called her cousin, who was also inside the store when gunfire erupted. Her cousin hid in a freezer inside the store and was not injured, she said. The pair reconnected outside the store.

"It was scary," Tookes said, adding that the store was crowded at the time and that others ran out the back door as well. "A lot of people got away, thank God."

She said she didn't see the shooter, but when she heard the shots she "just started running."

'The heart of the Black community': Buffalo shooting leaves a grieving, close-knit neighborhood with impossible questions

Who is Payton Gendron, the suspected gunman from Conklin, NY?

Payton Gendron, 18, of Conklin was arraigned Saturday evening before Buffalo City Court Judge Craig Hannah on one count of first-degree murder. Officials said they will weigh additional charges in the coming days.

In court, Gendron's attorney, Brian Parker, requested that his client undergo a psychiatric examination. Judge Hannah ordered that Gendron be held without bail. He is scheduled to return to court for a felony hearing on Thursday morning.

John Flynn, Erie County's district attorney, said the suspect would face a variety of charges, including hate crime charges.

Gov. Kathy Hochul said she had directed the state's Hate Crime Task Force to begin an investigation.

Gendron may also face federal charges.

"We are investigating this incident as both a hate crime and a case of racially motivated violent extremism,” said Stephen Belongia, special agent of charge of the FBI's Buffalo field office.

A law enforcement official confirmed Sunday that Gendron had threatened an attack at his high school last year, resulting in a referral for a mental health evaluation. The incident was reviewed by state authorities at the time. The official who is not authorized to comment publicly said the suspect's parents were cooperating with authorities.

Gendron is a 2021 graduate of Susquehanna Valley High School in Conklin, Broome County. The district’s superintendent released a letter to families and staff Saturday, saying it would not comment about the Gendron’s ties to the school, “in light of the extremely sensitive nature of this matter.”

“The staff and families of the Susquehanna Valley Central School District are incredibly saddened by the recent news of the mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo,” Superintendent Richard Doig said in the letter. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims at this difficult time.”

“We will continue to actively monitor this difficult situation as we begin a much-needed healing process,” Doig concluded in his letter.

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Who were the victims of the Buffalo shooting at Tops?

Buffalo police released the names of the victims from Saturday's mass shooting. The 10 people who were killed have been identified as:

• Roberta A. Drury, 32

• Margus D. Morrison, 52

• Andre Mackneil, 53

• Aaron Salter, 55

• Geraldine Talley, 62

• Celestine Chaney, 65

• Heyward Patterson, 67

• Katherine Massey, 72

• Pearl Young, 77

• Ruth Whitfield, 86

The three surviving victims were identified as

• Zaire Goodman, 20

• Jennifer Warrington, 50

• Christopher Braden, 55

Police described their injuries as "non-life-threatening." Goodman and Warrington have been treated and released from the Erie County Medical Center, according to a statement released Sunday evening.

At a press briefing Saturday, Gramaglia acknowledged that the store's security guard, a retired Buffalo police officer, was among those killed at the scene. He was "a hero in our eyes," Gramaglia said.

That guard, identified as 55-year-old Aaron Salter, confronted the shooter during the attack and shot him. Those bullets struck the attacker's tactical vest, preventing injury, Gramaglia said. The gunman returned fire and Salter was fatally shot

Three other victims were store employees. Police said that 11 of the victims were black and two were white. The three wounded in the attack suffered injuries that were not considered life-threatening, Gramaglia said.

In a tweet, state Sen. Tim Kennedy, D-Buffalo, said the son of one his staff members was among the wounded.

"To say that I'm heartbroken tonight doesn't even do it justice," Kennedy tweeted. "I'm devastated. I'm angry. I'm thinking about the families who won't welcome a loved one home tonight."

Security guard. Deacon. Grandma: Victims of the Buffalo supermarket shooting.

What are people saying about the Buffalo mass shooting?

"This was pure evil," Erie County Sheriff John Garcia said at a Saturday evening news conference. "It was a straight-up racially motivated hate crime from somebody outside of our community."

Hochul called the gunman a "white supremacist" who terrorized New York's second-largest city in a "cold-hearted," "military-style execution" as people were buying groceries.

"It strikes us in our very hearts to know that there's such evil that lurks out there," Hochul said. "This individual — this white supremacist — who just perpetrated a hate crime on an innocent community, will spend the rest of his days behind bars. And heaven help him in the next world as well."

Rep. Brian Higgins, D-NY., a Buffalo native, said the evidence gathered so far points to an “explicit act of racially motivated violence.”

Citing briefings with law enforcement officials, Higgins said the suspect carried an assault weapon inscribed with a racial epithet.

“I was on site for the last three hours, and I listened carefully to what the FBI, police, the district attorney and the U.S. attorney had to say,” Higgins said. “There is no doubt this was a racially motivated attack.”

Higgins acknowledged that authorities were reviewing the contents of a graphic manifesto in which the attacker referenced other racially motivated attackers, including Dylann Roof, an avowed white supremacist, who in 2015 killed nine people at a Black church in Charleston, South Carolina.

“This is what all the anecdotal evidence adds up to,” Higgins said.

"There is compelling evidence to believe that this was pre-planned," the congressman said.

Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt in 2011 and has since become an ardent advocate for gun control.

"It’s far too easy for people fueled by racist hate to access weapons of war and commit devastation on a massive scale," Giffords said. "Our leaders must strengthen our nation’s gun laws to prevent other communities across the country from experiencing similar trauma and devastation.”

Which store was the scene of the Buffalo shooting?

The supermarket is in a predominantly Black neighborhood, about three miles north of downtown Buffalo. The surrounding area is primarily residential and is surrounded by homes, along with a Family Dollar store, barbershops, a laundromat, and fire station. Authorities said evidence showed the suspect showed racial animosity but declined to elaborate.

More: Buffalo shooting leaves a grieving, close-knit neighborhood with impossible questions

Hundreds of people gathered outside the store Saturday evening.

Tops released a statement Saturday after the incident:

"We are shocked and deeply saddened by this senseless act of violence and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. Our top priority remains the health and well-being of our associates and customers. We appreciate the quick response of local law enforcement and are providing all available resources to assist authorities in the ongoing investigation."

Tops Markets announced Sunday afternoon that the Jefferson Avenue store would remain closed indefinitely while investigators continued to process evidence at the scene.

The company began offering a free shuttle service from that location to its store on Elmwood Ave, about 4 miles away.

"We are steadfast in our commitment to serving every corner of our community as we have for the past 60 years," the company said in a statement. "Knowing the importance of this location and serving families on the east side of the city, we have taken immediate steps to ensure our neighbors are able to meet their grocery and pharmacy needs by providing free bus shuttle service starting today."

The shuttles are scheduled to run from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

The company said it is also working closely with Buffalo city council member Ulysees Wingo Sr., who represents the Masten District, to provide free food and supplies to neighbors via the Resource Council of Western New York at 347 East Ferry St. in Buffalo.

The Erie County-based grocery store chain operates more than 150 grocery stores, most of which are in New York. The Jefferson Avenue store is one of seven Tops store located in Buffalo, according to the company's website. A company spokeswoman said the Jefferson Avenue store opened in 2003 and is "one of very few supermarkets in the city limits, a staple in the community."

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Buffalo shooting: What we know about Payton Gendron and the victims