Gov. Kathy Hochul addresses the media in the aftermath of the mass shooting that killed 10 and wounded three at a Tops Markets on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo.
The mass murder in Buffalo's African-American community – and the 18-year-old accused of committing it – quickly came to be seen as something even larger than an unprecedented Buffalo tragedy.
"We are shocked and deeply saddened by this senseless act of violence and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families," Tops Markets said after a shooting at its Jefferson Avenue supermarket on Saturday afternoon left 10 people dead and three wounded.
"The information is coming quickly, and it is enraging. Not only did a heavily armed kid from the Binghamton area drive to Buffalo to commit mass murder, but almost a decade after Sandy Hook, these crimes are still happening," writes The News' Editorial Board.
Ten people were gunned down at a Buffalo supermarket Saturday in a horrifying mass shooting that officials were quick to label as "pure evil" and racially motivated. The shooting stunned a community basking in a warm May afternoon, with shoppers filling the Tops in a predominantly Black neighborhood at 1275 Jefferson Ave.
Payton S. Gendron, 18, of Broome County, was arraigned before Buffalo City Court Judge Craig Hannah on a first-degree murder charge. If found guilty, he faces a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole.
Still images and video clips purportedly showing portions of the shooting had circulated on social media in the hours after the horrific mass shooting that took place at the Tops on Jefferson Avenue.
"This is pure evil, a racially motivated hate crime," said John Garcia, the Erie County Sheriff, citing certain pieces of evidence that he chose not to elaborate upon.
Cedric Holloway, the director of the Johnnie B Wiley Pavilion, was inside the community center with more than a dozen kids and teenagers when they heard gunshots at the nearby supermarket. “It scared the stink out of me,” Holloway said.
Just six minutes after police were first sent to store, a suspect in the horrific mass killing that left 10 people dead was in their custody, according to archived police and firefighter radio transmissions. The transmissions described a grim scene with first-responders discovering more violence had taken place there.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said the Justice Department "is investigating this matter as a hate crime and an act of racially-motivated violent extremism."
Gov. Kathy Hochul took aim at white supremacist ideology and its online promoters Saturday in the wake of a mass shooting at a Tops Market on Jefferson Avenue, allegedly perpetrated by an 18-year-old white suspect dressed in military camouflage.