A mass shooting in a Buffalo, N.Y. grocery store that killed 10 people is being investigated as a hate crime, according to local and federal law enforcement.
The man accused of carrying out the shooting is being held in custody, the Buffalo Police Department reported. Among 13 people shot, 11 were Black. Only three survived after being hit by gunfire, and police said their injuries are not life-threatening.
Officials have not released the alleged shooter’s name, but police have identified him as an 18-year-old white man who traveled “hours” to the Tops Friendly Market on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo, which serves a predominantly Black community. Police said the man was “heavily armed” and dressed in “tactical gear,” including a helmet, and live-streamed the shooting.
“The depth of pain that families are feeling and that all of us are feeling right now cannot even be explained,” said Mayor Byron Brown, who is Black, in a press conference.
The Buffalo Police Department cited a “mass shooting” at the local Tops in a tweet posted shortly before 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The tweet said the alleged shooter was in custody.
“This was pure evil, a straight up racially motivated hate crime from somebody outside of our community, outside of the city of good neighbors… coming into our community and trying to inflict that evil upon us,” said Erie County Sheriff John Garcia.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is from Buffalo, was expected to arrive in the city some time after 7 p.m.
“I am closely monitoring the shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo,” she tweeted about the shooting this afternoon. “We have offered assistance to local officials. If you are in Buffalo, please avoid the area and follow guidance from law enforcement and local officials.”
New York Attorney General Tish James, who was at a massive demonstration for abortion rights today in Brooklyn, tweeted: “All of New York is with Buffalo after this tragic mass shooting.”
Mayor Eric Adams, who also attended the Brooklyn rally today, posted on Twitter. "We pray for our neighbors in Buffalo tonight. And we will both pray and work to end the scourge of gun violence and hatred that has terrorized our country," Adams wrote.
