A total of 10 people have died in a shooting at a supermarket in the city of Buffalo, in the State of New York. A man, who was later arrested by the local police, opened fire this Saturday afternoon against customers of a store of the Tops supermarket chain, located on Jefferson Avenue, about three kilometers northeast of the city center. The identity of the shooter has not been revealed, but the police have indicated that it is an 18-year-old boy who was carrying a camera and broadcast live the murders he was committing.
The Buffalo Police Department has confirmed the figure of 10 fatalities and has indicated that there are also three wounded in the shooting whose life seems out of danger. The authorities are investigating the shooting as a hate crime or an extremist act of violence with racist motivations, as they have indications of it, as they have explained in a press conference. Of the shooting victims, 11 are black and two are white, the FBI special agent in charge of the investigation explained.
The assailant got out of his car around 2:30 p.m. local time. He shot four people in the parking lot, three of whom were killed and one wounded. He then entered the supermarket and continued shooting, as explained in the same appearance by the chief commissioner of the Buffalo police, Joseph Gramaglia. The security guard, a retired policeman, shot the assailant, but he was wearing a helmet and bulletproof vest and his protection repelled the shots. The guard is one of the fatalities.
A worker, who has been identified as Will G., has told the newspaper Buffalo News, that he was the first to raise the death toll to 10, that he had just enough time to hide behind one of the establishment’s refrigerators when it all started. “I only heard gunshots. Shots and more shots”, he said. “It sounded like things were falling off the shelves.” That same newspaper also quotes a police officer who, after accessing the crime scene, said: “It’s like entering a horror movie, but everything is real. It’s like Armageddon.”
live shooting
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Another witness has reported that the murderer was heavily armed, wearing military clothing and a bulletproof vest, and that it was a young white man in his 20s. Equipped with a camera, the young man broadcast his action on Twitch, the video social network owned by Amazon, which immediately canceled its channel as soon as it became aware of it. The mayor of Buffalo, Byron Brown, has claimed that he was not a resident of the city, but that he had been driving for hours before carrying out his attack. In his appearance before the judge, early this Saturday night, the young man identified himself as Payton Gendron, from Conklin, 322 kilometers southeast of Buffalo, reports the portal WIVB. As the authorities had anticipated, it is indeed a place hours away from Buffalo.
Witnesses have told local television networks that there were dozens of shots fired and that the police rushed to the scene. The shooter got out, initially aimed at his chin, but then dropped the gun, got down on his knees and turned himself in to police.
The store is located in a lower-class neighborhood of Buffalo and is, according to local media, a very popular supermarket in a predominantly black residential area. Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state, far behind New York. It is a few kilometers from the border with Canada and exchanges with the region of Ontario, and with its capital, Toronto, are frequent. It is also the closest town on the US side to Niagara Falls.
Amid the confusion, New York Governor Kathy Hochul tweeted: “I am closely following the shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo. We have offered assistance to local officials. If you are in Buffalo, please avoid the area and follow the instructions of the police and other authorities.” Hochul went to the city to supervise the care work for the families of the victims and inform the press. From the scene of the attack, the governor tweeted again: “We must confront the threat that white supremacy poses to our society.” United States President Joe Biden conveyed a message of condolence.
The American media have dusted off the memory of another shooting, with which this one bears certain similarities: that one took place in March 2021 in Boulder (Colorado). So 10 people, including a police officer, were killed at a grocery store called King Soopers.
