Racial motives seen in shooting that left 10 dead in Buffalo supermarket

Authorities say a mass shooting that left 10 people dead Saturday afternoon at a Tops Markets in Buffalo was racially motivated and a hate crime.

The shooter is white and 11 of the 13 victims – a number that includes three who were wounded – were Black, law enforcement officials said at a news conference late Saturday afternoon.

"We have evidence in custody right now that shows there is some racial component to these actions," Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn said.

He declined to elaborate on the evidence that, in his words, indicate the shooter was driven by "racial animosity."

Flynn and other officials addressed the motivation for the shooting about three hours after a gunman dressed in body armor and armed with a high-powered rifle, shot to death 10 people inside and outside the supermarket on Jefferson Avenue.

The suspect, who live-streamed the shooting on a social media site, is in custody and awaiting arraignment on a first-degree murder charge.

"It was," Erie County Sheriff John Garcia said, "straight up, a racially motivated hate crime."

Garcia added, "This person was pure evil."

Stephen Belongia, the special agent in charge of the Buffalo FBI Office, said his agents were investigating the mass shooting as a "hate crime" and as an example of "racially motivated violent extremism." U.S. Attorney Trini Ross of Buffalo said her office would aid in that probe.

Officials said the shooter is not from this area but traveled several hours to come to Buffalo to commit this act of violence.

Video posted on Twitter showed two Buffalo Police officers with a man who appears to be in custody just outside the Tops store.

The man is a white male dressed in camouflage pants, wearing what appears to be a mask over his mouth.

The News has not been able to confirm that the person in custody in the video was the shooter, though witnesses in interviews described the shooter as a white male.

The Tops supermarket that was the scene of the shooting serves a diverse customer base in a predominately Black neighborhood in Buffalo.

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