Payton Gendron, an 18 year old white male, has been identified as the shooter in the deadly May 14th shooting that killed ten people and wounded three others in the Tops Friendly Markets supermarket in Buffalo, New York. Gendron was arrested after a stand-off with police at the scene. Authorities state they have evidence that Gendron was motivated by “racial animosity.” It’s also been reported Gendron was yelling racial slurs during the attack.
At approximately 2:30 PM EDT, the shooter arrived at Tops Friendly Markets in a mostly black neighborhood wearing tactical body armor including a helmet, and three firearms, two of which were left in the car. Gendron also used a head-mounted camera to livestream the event on Twitch.
While approaching the supermarket, he used a Bushmaster XM-15 rifle to shoot some of the victims in the parking lot. Once he entered the supermarket, he completed his rampage by firing multiple rounds killing a larger group of victims; it’s been reported at least 50 shots were fired during the attack. An armed security guard, Aaron Salter Jr, fired a shot at the Gendron, but the shooter’s body armor effectively blocked and Gendron returned fire killing Salter.
In total, ten people died and three were wounded. The victims range in age from 20 to 86, with eleven of the victims being black. Of the ten victims that died, six were female and four were male. Once the shooter returned to the front of the building, officers were able neutralize the situation by talking to the victim and convincing him to lay down his arms.