The Tops Friendly Market, where the shooting took place, is in the heart of Buffalo’s black community, and 11 of the 13 people shot by the suspected white man are black, officials said.
“It was pure evil,” Eri County Sheriff John C. Garcia told a news conference on Saturday, calling the shooting a “racially motivated hate crime by someone outside our community.”
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the shooting “as a hate crime and an act of racially motivated violent extremism,” according to a statement from U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Peyton Hendron of Conklin, New York, was charged with first-degree murder on Saturday, Erie County District Attorney John J. told a news release. Flynn. Conklin is about a three-and-a-half hour drive from Buffalo.
He pleaded not guilty.
Here’s what we know about the shooting suspects.
He was wearing tactical equipment
Authorities say that when the suspect arrived at the store around 2:30 p.m., he was heavily armed, with tactical equipment, a helmet and had a camera that broadcast his actions live.
The suspect used a weapon to attack, Flynn told a news conference.
In a news release, Flynn said the suspect shot four people outside the store, killing three. When he entered the store, he exchanged fire with an armed guard, who authorities say is a retired police officer from Buffalo. The security guard died from his injuries. The suspect shot eight more people in the store, six of whom died, the statement said.
He is said to have broadcast live on Twitch
The popular live streaming platform Twitch confirmed on Saturday that the shooting suspect used her platform to broadcast live during the attack.
The company said it was “devastated” to hear about the shooting, adding that “the user has been suspended indefinitely from our service and we are taking all appropriate action, including monitoring all accounts that rebroadcast this content.”
CNN received part of the live broadcast, which shows the alleged shooter approaching a Tops store.
The video was recorded from the perspective of the alleged shooter as he drove to the supermarket parking lot. The man is seen in the rearview mirror with a helmet and is heard saying “I just have to do it” before entering the front of the store.
In the video, shoppers can be seen walking through the parking lot while the suspect drives up.
A Twitch spokesman said the company canceled the live broadcast less than two minutes after the violence began. The company did not immediately respond to subsequent questions about whether the suspect fired actively when the live broadcast was stopped.
The alleged manifesto speaks of a “reduction in the size” of the white population
Investigators were reviewing an alleged 180-page manifesto on Saturday that was published online in connection with the shooting investigation, two federal law enforcement sources told CNN.
The manifesto, independently received by CNN shortly after the attack and before authorities revealed the suspect’s name, was allegedly written by a person who claimed to be Peyton Hendron, who admitted to the attack.
The author of the manifesto says he has been buying ammunition for some time, but has not started seriously planning the attack until January. The author also continues with his perceptions of the declining white population and claims of ethnic and cultural replacement of whites.
Part of the document is written in the form of questions and answers.
The author of the manifesto attributes the Internet to most of his beliefs and describes himself as a fascist, white supremacist and anti-Semite.
More charges are likely to be filed
Hendron was indicted Saturday night before Buffalo City Court Chief Justice Craig Hanna on a first-degree murder charge, the district attorney’s office said.
He pleaded not guilty, Hannah told CNN. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment without parole, the statement said.
And there may be more charges, officials said.
“My office is working closely with the US Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners on potential terrorism and hate crimes. This is an active investigation and further charges may be filed,” Flynn said in a statement.
Hendron is due to return to court on the morning of May 19 to be heard for a felony, the statement said. He will remain in custody without bail, he added.
CNN’s Sharif Paget, Sabrina Shulman and Brian Stelter contributed to this report.
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