The suspect is a Caucasian 18-year-old man who was armed with a rifle. The shooting took place in a black-favored residential area and almost all of the victims were black.
Petri Burtsoff,
Marika Harjumaa,
Mikko Leppänen
15.5. 02: 52 • Updated May 15 11:44
Ten people were killed and three were wounded when a gunman opened fire at a supermarket in Buffalo, USA on Saturday. Police are investigating the case as a hate crime.
The suspect is a Caucasian 18-year-old man who was equipped with a rifle, helmet and bulletproof vest. He had traveled for hours to get to a place in a city in the state of New York.
The shooting took place in a black residential area about five miles north of downtown Buffalo. Of the 13 people who were victims, 11 were black.
Harris says he escaped the shop and at the same time saw a shooter wearing a field suit.
– The man looked like he was in the army, he said and said he had heard at least 70 shots.
Police said the shooter’s helmet camera captured the events live online. He is believed to have acted alone.
The suspect surrendered to police
Police said a gunman shot four people in a trade yard. Inside the shop, a gunman tried to stop a guard who was a retired police officer.
The guard fired several shots at the suspect, but his bulletproof vest prevented him from hitting. The suspect then shot the guard.
When police arrived at the scene, the suspect showed up with a gun. However, police made him drop his gun by talking. The man was arrested and later charged by a judge with murder.
According to the White House, the president Joe Biden has been informed of the attack. In a statement, Biden thanked police and other authorities and condemned the attack.
– A terrorist attack in the name of a repulsive white supremacy is contrary to everything America stands for. We can’t give power to anger, Biden said.
Authorities are verifying the authenticity of the alleged manifesto
The suspect is from the small town of Conklin in New York State.
A 180-page documentary is circulating online that is said to open up the shooter’s racist motives. According to the text, the shooter would have been inspired by a mosque attack in New Zealand, among others, which killed 51 people in Christchurch in 2019.
The manifesto also says that the shooter chose the supermarket in question because there are a lot of black residents living in the area.
Authorities are investigating whether the alleged manifesto is genuine.
According to The Buffalo News, the weapon used in the attack was inscribed with a racist barking word and the number 14, which refers to a phrase used by those in favor of white supremacy.
News updated at 7:00 p.m. Shooter weapon type specified. According to news agencies, the shooter had a rifle at his disposal, not a shotgun.