10 Dead in Mass Shooting at Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, NY

An 18-year-old gunman opened fire at a Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, NY, on Saturday, killing 10 people and injuring three others in a mass shooting described by the county sheriff as "pure evil." Eleven of the 13 victims are Black; two are white, the Associated Press reported. 

Erie County Sheriff John Garcia called the shooting "pure evil" and a "straight-up racially motivated hate crime from somebody outside of our community." The suspect, identified as Payton Gendron of Conklin, NY, about 200 miles outside of Buffalo, allegedly livestreamed the shooting from a camera on his helmet. The AP reported that the gunman was wearing military-style clothing and body armor. NBC News reported Saturday evening that "the suspect appeared to have the N-word written or etched on one of the weapons" recovered, according to local law enforcement officials.

In a news conference, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said the gunman "shot four people outside the store, and three of them died," the AP reported. "Inside the store, a security guard who was a retired Buffalo police officer fired multiple shots at the gunman and struck him, but the bullet hit the gunman’s bulletproof vest and had no effect, Gramaglia said," the wire service continued. The security guard was shot dead.

Tops Friendly Markets, founded in Niagara Falls, NY, in 1962, operates more than 150 supermarkets in New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. Its headquarters are in Williamsville, NY. The AP reported that Tops had released a statement saying the company is "shocked and deeply saddened by this senseless act of violence and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families."