Buffalo shooting: Red flags are raised about the suspect who shot before killing spree | US News
Questions are being raised about the red flags raised in front of a teenage gunman who was charged with racist killings at a US supermarket.
Police say 18-year-old Payton Gendron engaged in “extreme racially motivated violence” while live-streaming himself firing a semi-automatic rifle Saturday at a Buffalo supermarket. New York.
Ten people were killed and three were injured. Eleven of them are black.
And now, troubling details about the teenager’s behavior in high school, and his online presence, have begun to emerge.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said Gendron came into the sights of local officers last June, when they arrested him after he made a “generalized” threat at the police station. his school.
The teen was given a mental health assessment at the time but was released more than a day later.
Then, a 180-page “manifesto” went viral online, believed to have been written by Gendron, outlining the “Great Alternative Theory”, a racist plot that claimed white people were being substituted. supplanted by minorities in the United States and elsewhere.
Another online document, apparently also written by Gendron, outlines a to-do list for the attack, including gun cleaning and a live-streaming test, which he will use to retweet it on social media. festival.
Murder scene – Supermarket in Buffalo. Photo: AP
The family and friends of Ruth Whitfield, one of the victims, gave an emotional press conference on Monday, who was described as a “hero” for the community and an “angel” for the community. her family.
Their attorney, Benjamin Crump, was forced to pause his speech when two of the women collapsed, sobbing.
One must be led to a nearby seat and comforted.
Please use Chrome browser for more accessible video player
Relatives of shot victims are broken
It’s not just gunmen loading weapons
Mr Crump said: “What happened on Saturday was an act of domestic terrorism and we must define it as such – we cannot deny it.
“Just as Americans respond to terrorism, Americans need to respond to bigotry, racism and hate, as an act of terrorism.”
Ruth Whitfield, a 68-year-old wife, mother and grandmother, died in the Buffalo shooting
He continued: “We intend not only to hold the sick, depraved monster responsible for this hateful act, but also those responsible at the root, those who manage the situation. hate and the people who inspire hate on websites, internet services, cable TV stations – progressives for the youth.
“They loaded their guns – and we need to hold them accountable too.”
Gendron surrendered to police after the shooting and was charged with first-degree murder, which carries a maximum term in New York of life in prison without parole, but he pleaded not guilty.
