An 18-year-old attacker was detained without bail on first-degree murder charges following a mass shooting at a supermarket in New York state, that authorities described as a “hate crime” and “racially motivated violent extremism.”
The heavily-armed shooter wearing a bulletproof vest and a tactical helmet first opened fire at a parking lot and then inside a Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo around 2:30pm on Saturday, killing ten shoppers and employees, and injuring three others – all while livestreaming the attack online.
When police arrived at the scene and confronted the gunman, he reportedly put the gun to his neck, but was eventually persuaded to drop it and surrender.
Authorities said that 11 of the victims were black, with Erie County Sheriff John Garcia describing the attack as “pure evil” and a “straight up racially motivated hate crime from somebody outside of our community.”
