Our live coverage has ended. Read more about the Buffalo shooting here.
Ten people were killed in a racially motivated mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo on Saturday by a suspect in tactical gear who was livestreaming the attack, law enforcement officials said during a news conference.
Here’s what we know so far about the attack:
Read more here.
The US Department of Justice is investigating Saturday’s shooting in Buffalo “as a hate crime and an act of racially-motivated violent extremism,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement
Stephen Belongia, special agent in charge of the FBI Buffalo field office, also said the incident was being investigated as a hate crime at an earlier news conference on Saturday.
The suspect in the shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, was arraigned Saturday evening, Buffalo City Court Chief Judge Craig Hannah told CNN.
The suspect, identified as Payton Gendron, 18, was charged with first-degree murder and arraigned in Hannah’s courtroom, the judge said.
The suspect’s next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday at 9:30 a.m. ET, Hannah said.
The judge said that the district attorney’s office plans to indict the suspect and add additional charges.
“Justice is already being done, immediately,” Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said at a news conference Saturday night.
“This individual has been arraigned on murder in the first degree, which is the highest charge — murder charge in New York state. It carries with it a sentence of life without parole, the highest punishment we have a New York state. He was remanded. The judge ordered a forensic examination. A felony hearing will now take place in five days. And then the investigation continues.”
Flynn said the judge was called up to arraign the suspect tonight.
“We are now investigating terrorism charges, other murder charges, along with working with our partners in the federal government so that they can perhaps file charges as well. So I assure everyone in this community, justice is being done right now and justice will be done,” Flynn said.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul expressed outrage following the “military-style execution” at a Buffalo supermarket.
“A military-style execution targeting people who simply want to buy groceries in a neighborhood store. It strikes us to our very hearts to know that there is such evil that looks out there,” she said at a news conference.
Hochul said it is her “sincere hope” that the suspect, who is facing a charge of murder in first degree, “will spend the rest of the day his days behind bars.”
“Heaven help him in the next world as well,” she added.
Watch the moment:
A spokesperson for Twitch said that the company removed the livestream by the Buffalo supermarket mass shooting suspect less than two minutes after the attack started.
Social media companies have struggled to keep up with a torrent of violent content on their platforms, so Twitch’s performance may be applauded by some, while still criticized by others.
The company did not immediately respond to follow-up questions about whether the suspect was still actively firing when the livestream was halted.
CNN has obtained a portion of the Twitch livestream that shows the shooter pulling up to a Tops Friendly Markets store in Buffalo, New York, before opening fire on people Saturday afternoon.
The video is taken from the point of view of the shooter as he’s driving into the parking lot of the Tops market. The shooter, who is seen in the rearview mirror wearing a helmet, is heard saying, “Just got to go for it” before he pulls into the front of the store. In the video, store patrons can be seen walking through the parking lot as the suspect drives up.
In a news conference on Saturday evening, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said the shooting was livestreamed.
In a statement sent to CNN, Twitch confirmed the shooting was streamed and said the user “has been indefinitely suspended from our service, and we are taking all appropriate action, including monitoring for any accounts rebroadcasting this content.”
CNN is not airing the video at this time.
Twitch, the popular live-streaming platform best known for gaming, confirmed on Saturday that the Buffalo supermarket shooting suspect used its platform to stream a live broadcast during the attack.
Twitch said that the user “has been indefinitely suspended from our service, and we are taking all appropriate action, including monitoring for any accounts rebroadcasting this content.”
Officials during a news conference earlier Saturday did not say where the livestream was, only that it was on a “social media platform,” according to Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn.
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas has been briefed on the shooting in Buffalo, according to an official tweet from the department.
“DHS is actively coordinating with all relevant local, state, and federal agencies and will continue to provide the Department’s full support,” according to the tweet.
Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn said the suspect in the Buffalo mass shooting will be arraigned on charge of murder in first degree Saturday evening.
Speaking at a press conference with other officials, Flynn said, “I have already called a judge – Judge [Craig] Hannah – to come downtown immediately and arraign this individual so within the next hour; this individual will be arraigned on a charge of murder in the first degree.”
Officials have not named the suspect in the mass shooting thus far.
Saturday’s mass shooting in Buffalo is being investigated as a hate crime, the FBI said.
Stephen Belongia, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Buffalo Field Office, said the FBI is assisting in the investigation as well during a news conference.
Erie County Sheriff John Garcia called the shooting “pure evil” during the news conference.
Out of the 13 victims, 11 are Black while two are White, according to Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said the supermarket shooting suspect was wearing tactical gear and livestreaming as he entered the store.
“At approximately 2:30 today, an individual who the mayor stated is not from this area and is from hours away, drove to Buffalo and went to … the Tops market. He exited his vehicle, he was very heavily armed. He had tactical gear. He had a tactical helmet on. He had a camera that he was livestreaming what he was doing,”
The suspect is an 18-year-old White male, he said.
He shot four people in the parking lot, Gramaglia said, three of whom died.
The suspect went inside the store, where a security guard and former Buffalo police officer engaged him.
“Because he had heavily armored plating on, the bullet had no round. The suspect engaged our retired officer and he was shot and deceased at the scene. He continued to work his way through the store,” Gramaglia said.
He made his way back to the front of the store, where patrol officers were able to talk him into dropping his gun after he “put the gun to his own neck.”
Police arrested the suspect and transported him to Buffalo Police Headquarters.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said 10 people are dead after a shooting at Tops supermarket in the city.
A total of 13 people were shot, he said. Four of those were store employees, including a security guard.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said the alleged shooter traveled “hours” from outside the city to carry out the shooting at a Tops supermarket.
“The shooter was not from this community. In fact, the shooter traveled hours from outside this community to perpetrate this crime on the people of Buffalo,” he said.
He said it’s a day of “great pain” for the city.
“We are hurting and we are seething right now as a community. The depth of pain that families are feeling and that all of us are feeling right now cannot even be explained. Some of us had the opportunity to provide comfort to some of the families but needless to say, there is no comfort at this time. We are pleased that a shooter is in custody. The person responsible for the tragic events of today is in custody,” he said.
“This is the worst nightmare that any community can face and we are hurting and we are seething right now as a community,” Brown said. “The depth of pain that families are feeling and that all of us are feeling right now cannot even be explained.”
The mayor said he worked hard to bring this supermarket chain to the community, adding that it is one that he and his family patronize from time to time.
President Biden has been briefed on the deadly mass shooting at the Tops grocery store in Buffalo, New York, by Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, the White House said Saturday.
“The President has been briefed by his Homeland Security Advisor on the horrific shooting in Buffalo, NY this afternoon,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
A federal law enforcement official told CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz that at least eight people are dead following the Saturday shooting, marking the latest mass shooting in the US amid an ongoing national crisis of gun violence. There was also a series of shootings Friday night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Two federal law enforcement officials told CNN that investigators are reviewing a purported manifesto posted online in connection with the Buffalo mass shooting probe.
A federal law enforcement source told CNN there are at least eight fatalities in the shooting.
The Buffalo Police Department said an alleged shooter is in custody.
A federal law enforcement source told CNN there are at least eight fatalities in the shooting that took place at Tops supermarket in Buffalo on Saturday afternoon.
Rep. Brian Higgins earlier told CNN affiliate WKBW that multiple people had been killed in the shooting.
Police are expected to provide an update this hour.
The owners of the Buffalo market where Saturday’s deadly shooting took place said in a statement that they were “shocked and deeply saddened by this senseless act of violence and our thoughts and prayer[s] are with the victims and their families.”
Grady Lewis, a witness to the Buffalo shooting, said he was outside the Tops market when he started hearing gunshots.
“I heard a gunshot that I knew was a gunshot and not a firecracker. I looked up and I seen smoke. Then I seen a guy in a full Army suit just shooting shots at people. I seen a security guard run in the store, then I seen the guy go in, Army-style, bent over, just shooting at people. I heard him shooting at people and I saw three people laying down. And I didn’t have a phone on me so I was just screaming for somebody to call the police and then he came out,” Lewis told Buffalo’s WKBW.
It took police less than two minutes to arrive at the scene, he said.
“I heard at first and saw seven or eight gun-smoke shots. When he went inside, I heard at least 20 or so shots, but I couldn’t really tell because I was yelling and screaming myself for somebody to call the police. So he went in there shooting,” he said. “… I’m still kind of [shaken] up.”
His aunt was inside the store, Lewis said.
“I still don’t even believe it happened,” he said.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul tweeted said she is “closely monitoring” the shooting at the Tops grocery store in Buffalo.
“I am closely monitoring the shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo. We have offered assistance to local officials. If you are in Buffalo, please avoid the area and follow guidance from law enforcement and local officials,” she said.
Senate Majority Leader “actively monitoring” situation: Sen. Chuck Schumer said he is “actively monitoring the situation with the grocery store shooting in Buffalo. We are standing with the people of Buffalo. If you’re in Buffalo, please follow the guidance of local law enforcement.”
Local congressman reacts: Rep. Brian Higgins, a Democrat who represents parts of Erie and Niagara counties in New York’s 26th District, said he was “horrified” by the shooting and that his office was in contact with authorities to offer “any federal support necessary.”
NY attorney general calls shooting “tragic”: New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a tweet that “all of New York is with Buffalo after this tragic mass shooting” and advised people to stay away from the area.
Niagara District council member says he’s “horrified”: Niagara District council member David Rivera reacting to Saturday’s mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket posted the following statement on Facebook: “I’m absolutely horrified by the news of a mass shooting in Buffalo. My heart and condolences go out to the victim’s families.”
Stefanik “praying for entire community”: New York Rep. and chair of the House Republican Conference Elise Stefanik tweeted that she is “very saddened to hear the tragic news of fellow NYers in Buffalo. We are praying for the entire community and law enforcement at this time. 🙏”
Buffalo City Council member feels “sickness”: Buffalo City Council member Joseph Golombek reacted to the Tops supermarket attack on Facebook: “I can not put into words the sickness I feel over this senseless act of violence and loss of lives in our city. My condolences to the families.”
The Buffalo Police Department has tweeted they have an alleged shooter in custody following a “mass shooting” earlier Saturday.
“BREAKING: BPD on scene of a mass shooting at the Tops in the 1200 block of Jefferson Avenue. Police say multiple people have been struck by gunfire. The shooter is in custody. Motorists and residents are urged to avoid the area,” police said.
