Buffalo Supermarket Gunman Payton Gendron Previous Threatened To Shoot Up High School

On Saturday afternoon, the 18-year-old man who shot and killed ten people in Buffalo, New York, is now suspected to be motivated by hate as he targeted a supermarket in a black community. Payton Gendron of Conklin, New York, drove more than three hours to the grocery store and shot 13 people, 11 of whom were black.

“This was pure evil,” Erie County Sheriff John C. Garcia said. “Straight up racially motivated hate crime from somebody outside of our community.”

The shooter also used the popular live streaming platform Twitch to broadcast the attack online. The camera was placed on the front of Gendron’s helmet, giving a clear view of everything he was seeing. In the video, Gendron is seen in the rearview mirror wearing a helmet and is heard saying, “Just got to go for it,” before going towards the store. The suspect was also known to have threatened to shoot up his high school. Last year, Gendron attempted to attack at his high school, which led him to a referral for a mental health evaluation. State authorities reviewed the incident at the time.

New York State Police troopers were called to the Conklin school last June for a report that a 17-year-old student had made threatening statements about shooting the school. Authorities said he was then taken and sent to the hospital for a day and a half before being released. Gendron was called Saturday evening before Buffalo City Court Judge Craig Hannah on one count of first-degree murder. He was ordered to be held without bail and will return to court for his felony hearing on Thursday. Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn said he would consider additional charges within the coming days.

“My office is working closely with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our partners in law enforcement into potential terrorism and hate crimes. This is an active investigation and additional charges may be filed,” Flynn said in a statement.