A strange manifesto and legal weapons: what is known about the shooter who killed 10 people in Buffalo

Teenager, who killed 10 people in a supermarket in Buffalo, acted from racist motives. 18-year-old Payton Gendron, a white supremacist, opened fire in a mostly African American neighborhood in Buffalo. Of the 13 victims shot dead outside a Tops Friendly supermarket on May 14, 11 were black, reports New York Post with reference to sources in law enforcement.

The names of the dead women on the rifle

In addition, he scrawled on his gun the names of two victims killed by a black man in late 2021 - he drove a car into a crowd of people at a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Next to the names, he added the word “n…er” (a racist slur against blacks) and the phrase: “Here is your reparations,” probably alluding to the idea circulating in America of paying compensation to the descendants of blacks who were brought to the United States as slaves.

On the barrel of the rifle that Gendron used, they found the name of Virginia Sorenson scrawled (the guy misspelled it), as well as the name of another victim who died during a parade in Wisconsin. Sorenson, a 79-year-old white woman, was one of six people killed during a Christmas parade in Waukesha. Then a black man crashed his SUV into a crowd of celebrating. Suspect Darrell Edward Brooks publicly endorsed attacks on whites and made extremist statements on social media.

conspiracy theory manifesto

Prior to the shooting, Gendron wrote a 180-page manifesto that focused on the "great replacement" theory, which claims that immigrants are purposefully brought to America to skew the election results.

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In the document, a self-described anti-Semite and white supremacist claimed to have done "research" and concluded that low white birth rates around the world were a "crisis" that would "ultimately lead to total racial and cultural replacement of Europeans.

In the manifesto, the guy mentioned other racially motivated killings and wrote that he “basically agrees” with Brenton Harrison Tarrant, who killed 51 people, who attended a New Zealand mosque in March 2019.

In the manifesto, Gendron wrote that he began planning his attack in January and chose a Tops supermarket in Buffalo because the area had "the highest percentage of black people" and was close to his home in South Tier. One section of the manifest details his plans for the day of the shooting, including the corned beef hash he was supposed to eat for breakfast that day; how he would go to Buffalo and see the supermarket; it also said that he would wear body armor and broadcast the shooting live on the Internet. In the document, the attack was planned for 16:00, but the guy opened fire on people an hour earlier.

Investigators believe the manifesto is genuine and matches key personality traits of the suspect.

The teen was a quiet loner who joined radical online groups in the early days of the pandemic, police said. Payton was a student at Broome County Community College who wanted to be an engineer like his parents.

Gendron is arrested, the guy pleaded not guilty to the murders.

Interrogation of parents

The FBI interrogates Payton Gendron's parents, who are both civil engineers with the New York City Department of Transportation. Paul and Pamela Gendron are cooperating with investigators, but the details of their testimony have not yet been released. New York Postciting sources.

The agents also carried out thorough searches of the house and the barn in the family's yard.

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Terry Place, who lives a stone's throw from the Gendrons, said his family had the typical neighborhood relationship with the shooter's parents from time to time, and the guy was hardly known by the neighbors. They only remember that as a child he delivered mail to earn extra money.

Gendron bought guns legally

An upstate New York gun shop owner claimed he was the one who recently sold the assault weapon to Payton Gendron. According to him, he feels "terrible" because of the crime committed by a teenager, writes New York Times.

Robert Donald of Vintage Firearms in Endicott, New York, learned from federal agents that the attack was entirely from guns purchased from his store.

“I didn't know anything about it until they called me,” Donald said. - I could not believe it".

During the mass shooting, Gendron used a Bushmaster XM-15 rifle. Donald said that he did not remember the details of the sale of weapons to a teenager due to the large number of customers in the store. But after the shooting, at the request of law enforcement officers, he raised all the documents related to this deal.

According to Donald, the store tested Gendron as required by New York state gun sales regulations, but the inspection did not reveal any red flags.

“He didn’t stand out in any way,” he said of the teenager. “Because if there was something wrong with him, I would never sell him a gun. I don't understand why an 18 year old would do such a thing. I know I didn't do anything wrong, but I still feel terrible about this situation."

Donald said he rarely sells Bushmaster XM-15 assault rifles and specializes in vintage handguns. Gendron modified the rifle to make it more lethal. To do this, the guy used illegal parts. Donald assured that at the time of the sale, the weapons were in accordance with the law.

“Any weapon can be easily modified if you really want to,” said the gun shop owner.