Payton Gendron, 18, has been identified as the alleged mass murderer who entered a Tops Friendly Market grocery store in Buffalo, New York, on May 14, 2022, and killed ten people and seriously wounded three others.
Eleven of the victims were Black, and two were White.
According to reports, Payton Gendron, who is from Conklin, NY, meticulously planned his horrific attack on the heavily African-American community.
While causing havoc, he reportedly carried a camera to broadcast his hateful crime live on Twitch for the world to see. The bloodbath was posted on multiple videos that are now circulating on the Internet.
Twitch attempted to scrub all footage of the massacre from the Web in vain. Multiple videos show the bodies of the victims lying in the parking lot.
Buffalo shooting suspect to face additional charges
The teenager was arrested at the crime scene and faces first-degree murder charges in New York. However, according to the authorities, he might be later slapped with federal charges, including hate crimes.
During a press conference Stephen Belongia, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Buffalo field office, made this confirmation: “We are investigating this incident as both a hate crime and a case of racially-motivated violent extremism.”
Erie County Sheriff John Garcia told reporters: “This was pure evil. It was a straight-up racially motivated hate crime from somebody outside of our community.”
According to the police, the suspect entered the store around 2:30 p.m. dressed for a full-blown war on Black people while on Twitch live stream.
Payton Gendron wore camouflage attire, a black helmet, military-style body armor, and carried a high-powered rifle.
He also carried a hunting rifle and a shotgun. Photos revealed that Payton Gendron wrote the word “nigger” on the weapon’s barrel.
Governor Kathy Hochul says magazines came from another state
Gendron purchased the guns legally and later modified them with illegal magazines.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said there is a possibility that Gendron might have purchased the magazines in another state, including nearby Pennsylvania.
Gendron started his shooting spree in the supermarket’s parking lot — he fatally shot three innocent shoppers and left one seriously injured.
He made his way to the store, where he was confronted by Aaron Salter Jr., a beloved retired Buffalo police officer who was employed as a security guard at the store.
Salter Jr. lost his life as he tried to stop the crazed teenager from killing more people. The security guard shot at Gendron, but his bullets could not pierce the armor.
After gunning down 13 people, Gendron became suicidal and placed his gun to his neck, but Buffalo cops were able to convince him to surrender.
While the author of the attack was taken into custody alive, ten people were not fortunate to return home to their families.
Victims of Tops Market mass shooting
The names of the Buffalo mass shooting victims are Katherine Massey, Pearl Young, Aaron Salter, Jr., Ruth Whitfield, Celestine Chaney, Heyward Patterson, Andre Mackneil, Geraldine Talley, Margus Morrison, and Roberta Drury.
Ruth Whitfield, 86, a beloved mother and woman of God, was doing her usual grocery shopping when she was shot to death.
Garnell W. Whitfield, a retired Buffalo Fire Commissioner, spoke lovingly about his mother by telling a local news network: “My mom was the consummate mom. My mother was a mother to the motherless. She was a blessing to all of us. She loved God and taught us to do the same thing.”
He added: “She inspired me to be a man of God and to do whatever I do the best I could do. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without her.”
Aaron Salter Jr is praised as a hero
Aaron Salter Jr., 55, the former Buffalo police officer and a respected security guard, died a hero as he attempted to take down the gunman.
Salter had been an employee of the store for the past four years.
Aaron Salter Jr., passionate about law enforcement, joined the Buffalo police department immediately after graduating from high school.
Salter, who was an officer in the Northeast District, is survived by three children.
Buffalo Police Chief Joseph Gramaglia explained why Salter was a “hero in our eyes” during a news conference.
He stated: “One of the individuals inside the store is a security guard, a beloved security guard, who is a retired Buffalo Police officer, a hero in our eyes, engaged the suspect, fired multiple shots, struck the suspect, but because he had heavy armor plating on, that bullet had no round.”
Aaron Salter III told the Daily Beast this about his late father: “Today is a shock. I’m pretty sure he saved some lives today. He’s a hero.”
Pearl Young used to feed hungry people
Pearl Young, 77, was a mother, grandmother, and woman of God. She was killed as she was busy buying food to feed the hungry.
Young ran a pantry for more than 25 years and was known to travel to Central Park to provide meals for those in dire need. She was a lover of life who enjoyed singing and dancing.
Her family shared this statement via CNN: “Pearl was a long-term substitute teacher with the Buffalo Public School District and recently worked at Emerson School of Hospitality.”
Payton Gendron’s racist manifesto
There is a 180-page manifesto attributed to the teen shooter detailing his murderous plans.
In the manifesto, he described himself as a white supremacist and a believer in the “Great Replacement theory” that originated from French author Renaud Camus.
In the 2011 book, Camus claimed that Europe was being invaded by Black and Brown immigrants from Africa.
Those in the United States, who adhere to the theory, are pushing the claim that Democrats are encouraging immigration from Latin America to take over.
In his biography, Payton Gendron shared his views by writing: “18 years old as of writing this. I am the sole perpetrator of the recent attempted mass shooting. I lived in Southern Tier, New York, all my life with both my parents and two brothers. I believe I am ethnically white since my parent’s nationalities are from north-western Europe and Italy. I graduated high school with a regents diploma with advanced designation and am currently enrolled in SUNY Broome with a major in Engineering Science.”
Payton Gendron’s manifesto echoes Great Replacement conspiracy theory
In his writings, Gendron said: “Mass immigration and the higher fertility rates of the immigrants themselves are causing this increase in population. We are experiencing an invasion on a level never seen before in history. Millions of people are pouring across our borders, legally. Invited by the state and corporate entities to replace the White people who have failed to reproduce, failed to create the cheap labor, failed to create new consumers and tax base that the corporations and states need to have to thrive.”
It continued: “This crisis of mass immigration and sub-replacement fertility is an assault on the European people that, if not combated, will ultimately result in the complete racial and cultural replacement of the European people.”
Payton Gendron was inspired by Brenton Harrison Tarran
He also revealed that he was inspired by white supremacist mass killer Brenton Harrison Tarran.
Tarran carried out two mass shootings on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, where he killed 51 people and injured 40 people.
The manifesto revealed: “Yes, and his name is Brenton Harrison Tarrant. Brenton’s live stream started everything you see here. Brenton started my real research into the problems with immigration and foreigners in our White lands. Without his live stream, I would likely have no idea about the real problems the West is facing.”
The manifesto clearly stated that he picked Buffalo because of its large Black population.
He wrote in the race-hate-filled pages: “Why did you choose (REDACTED) for the place of attack?
(REDACTED) has the highest black population percentage (zip code *****) and isn’t that far away. Plus, NY has heavy gun laws, so it would ease me if I knew that any legally armed civilian was limited to 10-round magazines or cucked firearms. I replaced the name of the city to redact because I’d prefer that the FBI and local police don’t know until the attack has started. After the attack, can somebody switch it over plz?
Payton Gendron said that he is not a Christian, and he does not associate with the Republican or the Democratic party.
He confessed that he has never been diagnosed with a “mental disability or disorder,” and added “I believe to be perfectly sane.”
Payton Gendron threatened to shoot classmates in high school and was hospitalized
According to the Buffalo police, Payton Gendron was taken to the hospital, where he underwent mental evaluation.
In June 2021, the alleged white supremacist came to school and threatened to shoot and kill his classmates during graduation.
Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said at the press conference: “After making the threat, he went to a local hospital, he was there for … about a day and a half, evaluated and then released.”
The threats did not ring the alarms for him to be placed on the radar of federal law enforcement.
Gramaglia explained: “There was nothing picked up on the State Police intelligence. Nothing that was picked up on the FBI intelligence. Nobody called in any complaint. The State Police did their job to the fullest that they could at that time.”
Nathan Twitchell, 19, a high school classmate, told the New York Times that Gendron bizarrely wore a hazmat suit including “boots, gloves, everything” the week before graduation.
Twitchell shared: “Everyone was just staring at him.”
Payton Gendron pleads not guilty in court
Payton Gendron appeared before Buffalo City Court Chief Judge Craig Hannah on Saturday and pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges via his attorney.
The gravity of the rampage will lead to more charges soon. Gendron, who is facing a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole, has been placed on suicide watch.
Gendron’s defense attorney has requested for a mental health forensic examination to be withdrawn.
On May 19, Gendron will be back in court for a felony hearing. He will remain in custody without bail.
Meanwhile, authorities have been seen going in, and out of the home he lived in with his parents, Paul Gendron and Pamela Gendron, to collect evidence.
AP confirmed that Paul and Pamela Gendron are cooperating with investigators.
