The US authorities said that the shooting incident, Saturday, inside a store in New York state was “racistly motivated” by a white young man who broadcast his attack directly on social media, while US President Joe Biden was informed of the incident.
newspaper quoted “New York PostAccording to officials, 18-year-old Payton Gendron drove for hours in Conklin, New York, to Tops Market on Jefferson Street in a predominantly black neighborhood.
Eleven of the victims were black and two were white.
“We are investigating this incident as a hate crime and a case of racially motivated violent extremism,” Stephen Plongia, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s field office in Buffalo, said during a news conference.
“This was pure evil,” Erie County Sheriff John Garcia said. “It was a straightforward racially motivated hate crime.”
In the details reported by the newspaper, the shooter arrived at the store around 2:30 p.m., carrying tactical gear and wearing a helmet, and a live-streaming camera, according to Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Grammaglia.
The official added that the gunman opened fire in the parking lot, killing three people and wounding a fourth, then went inside the store, where he encountered a security guard and a former policeman in Buffalo, who tried to stop him, Grammaglia said.
The “New York Post” indicated that the bullet of the security guard in the store might not penetrate the armor of the attacker.
The attacker killed the security guard and made his way into the store.
After the police arrived, according to the report, the attacker put the gun to his neck before the police persuaded him to surrender.
Erie County District Attorney John Flynn pledged to file the shooter with a first-degree murder charge “within an hour.”
The striker chose Saturday followingnoon, when many people go shopping.
White House press secretary Karen Jean-Pierre said President Biden was briefed on the shooting and “will continue to receive updates throughout the evening and tomorrow as more information develops.”
