At least 8 dead after a shooting in Buffalo, New York 3:59
(WABNEWS) — At least 10 people were killed in a mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket on Saturday, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said. A suspect is in custody, according to police.
Two federal officials told WABNEWS that investigators are reviewing an alleged manifesto posted online in connection with the mass shooting.
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The FBI is assisting in the investigation, Stephen Belongia, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Buffalo field office, said at a news conference. The shooting will be investigated as a hate crime, Belongia said.
Witness describes how he experienced the shooting in a Buffalo supermarket 1:04
Erie County Sheriff John Garcia called the shooting “pure evil” during the news conference.
“It was a direct racially motivated hate crime from someone outside of our community, outside of the city of good neighbors as the mayor said, who came into our community and tried to inflict that evil on us,” Garcia said.
Suspect had tactical gear and was heavily armed
The suspect in the supermarket shooting was wearing tactical gear and was broadcasting live when he entered the store, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said.
“At approximately 2:30 today, an individual who, according to the Mayor, is not from this area and was hours away, drove to Buffalo and went to Tops Market. He got out of his vehicle, he was very heavily armed. He had tactical gear. He was wearing a tactical helmet. He had a camera that was broadcasting live what he was doing.”
The suspect is an 18-year-old white male, he said.
He shot four people in the parking lot, Gramaglia said, three of whom died.
The suspect entered the store, where a security guard and former Buffalo police officer attacked him.
“Because it was heavily armored, the bullet did not penetrate. The suspect confronted our retired officer and was shot and died at the scene. He continued to make his way through the store,” Gramaglia described.
He returned to the front of the supermarket, where patrol officers were able to convince him to drop his gun after he “put the gun to his neck.”
Police arrested the suspect and transported him to Buffalo Police Headquarters.
The shooting occurred at Tops Markets on Jefferson Street, police said.
Buffalo police responded to the scene of a “multiple shooting event” at Tops Markets on Jefferson Street in the city, according to a tweet from Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.
“BPD at the scene of a mass shooting in Tops in the 1200 block of Jefferson Avenue,” the Buffalo Police Department tweeted. “Police say multiple people have been hit by gunfire. The shooter is in custody. Bystanders and residents are urged to avoid the area.”
The Erie County Sheriff’s Office expressed condolences in a tweet following the incident, adding that Sheriff John Garcia “has directed all available resources and personnel to assist” police.
Police said multiple people were shot in what they described as a “mass shooting” at a Buffalo supermarket.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul tweeted: “I am closely monitoring 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 local officials.”
The live broadcast of the shooting
WABNEWS obtained a portion of the Twitch live stream showing the shooter stopping at a Tops Friendly Markets store in Buffalo, New York, before opening fire on people on Saturday afternoon.
The video is taken from the shooter’s point of view as he drives into the Tops Market parking lot. The man, seen in the rearview mirror wearing a helmet, is heard saying, “I have to” before walking into the front of the supermarket. In the video, customers of the store can be seen walking through the parking lot as the suspect approaches.
At a news conference Saturday night, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said the shooting was broadcast live.
In a statement sent to WABNEWS, Twitch confirmed that the shooting was broadcast, saying the user “has been indefinitely suspended from our service and we are taking all appropriate action, including monitoring any accounts re-streaming this content.”
WABNEWS is not broadcasting the video at this time.
A Twitch spokesperson said the company removed the live stream of the mass shooting less than two minutes after the attack began.
With information from Samantha Beech and Sharif Paget
