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SUSPECT IN BUFFALO SHOOTING WAS INVESTIGATED LAST YEAR OVER THREAT


LATEST UPDATES

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 * Names of victims in Buffalo shooting released
   
   11:05 p.m.
   

 * New York officials vow to hold social media, gunmakers accountable
   
   7:49 p.m.
   

 * Gunman targeted neighborhood with one of the highest shares of Black
   residents in state
   
   7:43 p.m.
   

 * Tops grocery store was central to Buffalo neighborhood
   
   6:21 p.m.
   
 * BulletKey update
   
   Suspect investigated in past for alleged threatening statement, law
   enforcement officials say
   
   5:08 p.m.
   
 * BulletKey update
   
   Survivor describes terror during shooting: ‘Something told me to get up and
   run’
   
   4:03 p.m.
   

 * Details of shooting emerge that fit with patterns of past mass killings
   
   3:33 p.m.
   
 * BulletKey update
   
   Biden: Hate ‘remains a stain on the soul of America’
   
   3:30 p.m.
   

 * Local barber says he recognizes suspect from previous visit to neighborhood
   
   3:22 p.m.
   

 * Conservative media is familiar with ‘great replacement theory’
   
   2:48 p.m.
   

 * Photos: Returning to the scene of the killings
   
   2:37 p.m.
   

 * Vice President Harris calls out ‘racially-motivated hate crimes’
   
   2:19 p.m.
   

 * Domestic terror incidents on the rise, Post investigation found
   
   2:16 p.m.
   

 * Photos: Victims’ families, friends worship at True Bethel Baptist Church
   
   2:10 p.m.
   

 * Photos: A community grieves at multifaith prayer vigil
   
   1:43 p.m.

 * Names of victims in Buffalo shooting released
   
   11:05 p.m.
   

 * New York officials vow to hold social media, gunmakers accountable
   
   7:49 p.m.
   

 * Gunman targeted neighborhood with one of the highest shares of Black
   residents in state
   
   7:43 p.m.
   

 * Tops grocery store was central to Buffalo neighborhood
   
   6:21 p.m.
   
 * BulletKey update
   
   Suspect investigated in past for alleged threatening statement, law
   enforcement officials say
   
   5:08 p.m.
   
 * BulletKey update
   
   Survivor describes terror during shooting: ‘Something told me to get up and
   run’
   
   4:03 p.m.
   

 * Details of shooting emerge that fit with patterns of past mass killings
   
   3:33 p.m.
   
 * BulletKey update
   
   Biden: Hate ‘remains a stain on the soul of America’
   
   3:30 p.m.
   

 * Local barber says he recognizes suspect from previous visit to neighborhood
   
   3:22 p.m.
   

 * Conservative media is familiar with ‘great replacement theory’
   
   2:48 p.m.
   

 * Photos: Returning to the scene of the killings
   
   2:37 p.m.
   

 * Vice President Harris calls out ‘racially-motivated hate crimes’
   
   2:19 p.m.
   

 * Domestic terror incidents on the rise, Post investigation found
   
   2:16 p.m.
   

 * Photos: Victims’ families, friends worship at True Bethel Baptist Church
   
   2:10 p.m.
   

 * Photos: A community grieves at multifaith prayer vigil
   
   1:43 p.m.

Key updates
Bullet
Suspect investigated in past for alleged threatening statement, law enforcement
officials say
Bullet
Survivor describes terror during shooting: ‘Something told me to get up and run’
Bullet
Biden: Hate ‘remains a stain on the soul of America’
Play
Buffalo residents mourn those killed in mass shooting
2:02

Residents of Buffalo are still reeling after a gunman launched a racially
motivated attack at a grocery store, killing 10 people. (Video: Zoeann
Murphy/The Washington Post)
By Julian Mark
, 
María Luisa Paúl
, 
Aaron Gregg
and 
Devlin Barrett
 
Updated May 15, 2022 at 11:05 p.m. EDT|Published May 15, 2022 at 7:07 a.m. EDT
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3 min
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An 18-year-old White man is accused of opening fire Saturday at a supermarket in
Buffalo, killing 10 people and injuring three others, said law enforcement
officials, who are investigating the incident as a hate crime and a case of
racially motivated violent extremism. Eleven of the 13 people shot were Black.




Two law enforcement officials told The Washington Post that the suspect in the
case, Payton Gendron, was investigated less than a year ago by state police
after they received a report that he’d made a threatening statement at his high
school. A state police spokesman didn’t confirm the name, but said that a
student at the high school was taken into custody on June 8, 2021, and evaluated
at a mental hospital. He was not charged.

Show more

Here’s what to know

 * A spokesperson for the live-streaming platform Twitch said the gunman began
   filming and sharing the attack, but the company removed the stream two
   minutes after the violence started.
 * One of the victims was a security guard at the store, who fired back, but the
   gunman’s body armor deflected the shot. A law enforcement official called the
   security guard a “hero.”
 * The gunman was allegedly inspired by a racist idea that has gained currency
   on popular right-wing television programs and in the halls of Congress.

11:05 p.m.



NAMES OF VICTIMS IN BUFFALO SHOOTING RELEASED

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By Pradnya Joshi

The Buffalo Police Department released the names of the 10 people killed and
three injured during the Tops Friendly Markets shooting. The names of the
victims, according to police, are:

 * Celestine Chaney, 65, of Buffalo;
 * Roberta A. Drury, 32, of Buffalo;
 * Andre Mackniel, 53, of Auburn, N.Y.;
 * Katherine Massey, 72, of Buffalo;
 * Margus D. Morrison, 52, of Buffalo;
 * Heyward Patterson, 67, of Buffalo;
 * Aaron Salter, 55, of Lockport, N.Y.;
 * Geraldine Talley, 62, of Buffalo;
 * Ruth Whitfield, 86, of Buffalo;
 * Pearl Young, 77, of Buffalo.

Those injured in the attack are:

 * Christopher Braden, 55, of Lackawanna, N.Y.;
 * Zaire Goodman, 20, of Buffalo;
 * Jennifer Warrington, 50, of Tonawanda, N.Y.

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7:49 p.m.



NEW YORK OFFICIALS VOW TO HOLD SOCIAL MEDIA, GUNMAKERS ACCOUNTABLE

Return to menu
By Jacob Bogage

BUFFALO — New York state leaders pledged to explore stronger regulations on
social media companies, as well as gun manufacturers and distributors, after a
racially motivated shooting at a supermarket left 10 dead.

“I’m calling out the social media platforms where this hate can be spewed,” Gov.
Kathy Hochul (D), a Buffalo native, said Sunday during remarks at Macedonia
Missionary Baptist Church, one of the oldest Black churches in Buffalo. “People
are learning how to create guns and violence and weapons and the dissemination
of this virus called White supremacy.”

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7:43 p.m.



GUNMAN TARGETED NEIGHBORHOOD WITH ONE OF THE HIGHEST SHARES OF BLACK RESIDENTS
IN STATE

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By Adrián Blanco and Reis Thebault

The Buffalo neighborhood where a gunman launched an attack at a Tops Friendly
Markets grocery store is home to one of the largest shares of Black residents in
the state and the largest in western New York, according to U.S. census data.



The suspect detailed a plan to target the Black community in a lengthy online
diatribe that authorities believe he wrote.

A separate set of documents — transcripts from the online instant messaging
platform Discord, also apparently written by the suspect — show the author
zeroing in on the specific Zip code of the store because of the area’s high
percentage of Black residents. Ten people were killed and three were injured
Saturday.

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6:21 p.m.



TOPS GROCERY STORE WAS CENTRAL TO BUFFALO NEIGHBORHOOD

Return to menu
By Julian Mark, Aidan Joly and Reis Thebault

When Tops Friendly Markets opened a supermarket in Buffalo’s Masten Park
neighborhood 19 years ago, it was a joyous occasion with music, cake and smiles.
Residents who had been calling for a supermarket in the neighborhood for more
than a decade finally had one, as the Buffalo News reported.

Now, the massacre that left 10 people dead will forever cast a shadow on the
grocery store that’s been central to the neighborhood for nearly two decades.
The chain’s management said the store would remain closed indefinitely, making
it more difficult for residents in the neighborhood, which some have referred to
as a former “food desert,” to get regular and reliable access to food.

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Bullet
Key update
5:08 p.m.



SUSPECT INVESTIGATED IN PAST FOR ALLEGED THREATENING STATEMENT, LAW ENFORCEMENT
OFFICIALS SAY

Return to menu
By Devlin Barrett and Reis Thebault

Two law enforcement officials said the gunman arrested in connection with the
shooting in Buffalo was investigated less than a year ago by state police for
making a threatening statement.

They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.

A state police spokesman said that on June 8, 2021, officials “responded to
Susquehanna High School in Conklin, NY, to investigate a report that a
17-year-old student had made a threatening statement.” The spokesman did not
identify the student, citing state privacy laws.

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Bullet
Key update
4:03 p.m.



SURVIVOR DESCRIBES TERROR DURING SHOOTING: ‘SOMETHING TOLD ME TO GET UP AND RUN’

Return to menu
By Jacob Bogage

BUFFALO — At 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Julie Harwell was at Tops Friendly Market
picking up some hamburgers and hot dogs for her birthday barbecue. Her partner,
Lamont Thomas, and 8-year-old daughter, London Thomas, sneaked away across the
store to buy mix for a birthday cake.

Harwell turned 33 on Sunday.

London picked out a strawberry cake with vanilla icing.

Then the shooting started.

Read the full story































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3:33 p.m.



DETAILS OF SHOOTING EMERGE THAT FIT WITH PATTERNS OF PAST MASS KILLINGS

Return to menu
By Mark Berman

The details about the Buffalo shooting that have emerged so far fit with grim
patterns seen in past mass killings.

Researchers and experts studying mass violence have found common elements, many
of which appear to have recurred in Buffalo.

Active shooters are usually male, researchers have found, who were fueled by
some kind of grievance. Rather than snapping seemingly without any warning, most
attackers often spent time plotting beforehand, the FBI found in a 2018 study
examining active shooters.

These attackers also tended to alarm people around them before opening fire, the
FBI study found, and more than half had made clear in some fashion that they
intended to commit violence.

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Bullet
Key update
3:30 p.m.



BIDEN: HATE ‘REMAINS A STAIN ON THE SOUL OF AMERICA’

Return to menu
By Amy Wang

President Biden on May 15 gave his condolences to the victims and families of
the mass shooting in Buffalo that killed 10 people. (Video: The Washington Post)

President Biden on Sunday opened his remarks at the National Peace Officers’
Memorial Service with prayers for the victims of the mass shooting in Buffalo on
Saturday.

“A lone gunman armed with weapons of war and [a] hate-filled soul shot and
killed 10 innocent people in cold blood at a grocery store on Saturday
afternoon,” Biden said. “Jill and I, like all of you, pray for the victims and
their families and a devastated community.”

Biden said the White House was in close contact with the Justice Department,
which was still gathering facts about the shooting. However, he noted that the
Justice Department had already stated it was investigating the matter as a hate
crime — a “racially motivated act of white supremacy and violent extremism.”

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3:22 p.m.



LOCAL BARBER SAYS HE RECOGNIZES SUSPECT FROM PREVIOUS VISIT TO NEIGHBORHOOD

Return to menu
By Jacob Bogage

BUFFALO — As law enforcement officials dive deeper into the movement of an
18-year-old accused of killing 10 people at a supermarket here, some local
residents say they believe they recognize suspect Payton Gendron from previous
visits to the area.

Daniel Love, who owns a barbershop across the street from the Tops Friendly
Market, the scene of the killings, said he and co-workers saw a man they believe
to be Gendron on Friday sitting on the curb outside the shop at about 6 p.m.

The Washington Post could not independently verify that the man seen by Love was
the suspect.

Show more
2:48 p.m.



CONSERVATIVE MEDIA IS FAMILIAR WITH ‘GREAT REPLACEMENT THEORY’

Return to menu
By Paul Farhi

The suspect in Saturday’s killing of 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket
allegedly wrote a document endorsing “great replacement theory,” a once-fringe
racist idea that became a popular refrain among media figures such as Tucker
Carlson and Laura Ingraham of Fox News and conservative writer Ann Coulter.

The theory was once confined to far-right White extremists, who cast immigration
as part of a plot by “elites” to take political and economic power away from
White people. It has gained broader circulation in recent years as a talking
point among prominent conservative media figures.

This is an excerpt from a full story.

ChevronRightContinue reading
2:37 p.m.



PHOTOS: RETURNING TO THE SCENE OF THE KILLINGS

Return to menu
By Libby March

Grady Lewis revisited the parking lot of the Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo
early Sunday. On Saturday, he was outside the store and says he saw a White man
apparently outfitted for war, wearing military-style fatigues and holding a
firearm in his hands. The atmosphere on Sunday was different.




2:19 p.m.



VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS CALLS OUT ‘RACIALLY-MOTIVATED HATE CRIMES’

Return to menu
By Aaron Gregg

Vice President Harris reacted to news of the shooting by asking Americans to
call out “racially-motivated hate crimes or acts of violent extremism.”

Her statement Sunday stopped short of labeling this specific shooting a hate
crime, but described such incidents as “crimes which affect all of us.”

“Law enforcement is proceeding with its investigation, but what is clear is that
we are seeing an epidemic of hate across our country that has been evidenced by
acts of violence and intolerance,” Harris said, adding: “We must call it out and
condemn it.”

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2:16 p.m.



DOMESTIC TERROR INCIDENTS ON THE RISE, POST INVESTIGATION FOUND

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By Meghan Hoyer, Andrew Tran, Robert O'Harrow and Derek Hawkins

As the district attorney considers possible domestic terrorism charges against
the Buffalo suspect, a Washington Post investigation last year found that
domestic terrorism incidents nationwide have soared in recent years, driven
chiefly by white-supremacist, anti-Muslim and anti-government extremists on the
far right.

The surge reflects a growing threat from homegrown terrorism not seen in a
quarter-century, with right-wing extremist attacks and plots greatly eclipsing
those from the far left and causing more deaths, the analysis showed. The number
of domestic terrorism incidents in the data peaked in 2020, according to The
Post’s analysis of data compiled by the Center for Strategic and International
Studies.

Show more
2:10 p.m.



PHOTOS: VICTIMS’ FAMILIES, FRIENDS WORSHIP AT TRUE BETHEL BAPTIST CHURCH

Return to menu
By Matt Burkhartt

Congregants worshiped at a service at the True Bethel Baptist Church in Buffalo
on Sunday, the day after a mass shooting at a nearby Tops Friendly Market
grocery.




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