Ten people lost their lives as a gunman opened fire on Saturday, 14 May, at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York. Three people were also reportedly wounded.
The suspect is 18 years old and white, and news agency AFP cited authorities as saying the attack was “racially motivated”. The police ha also said that most of the victims were black.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia was quoted by AFP as saying:
"We are investigating this incident as both a hate crime and a case of racially motivated violent extremism.”
Meanwhile Eerie County Sheriff John Garcia said that it “was straight up racially motivated hate crime form somebody outside of our community”.
The gunman is also said to have live-streamed the attack on camera.
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According to Gramaglia, the gunman first shot four people in the parking lot of the Tops supermarket, out of which three died. Then he went inside and continued firing.
A retired police officer, who was employed as an armed security guard, is among the deceased. According to the police, he fired multiple shots at the suspect, but the latter was protected by body armour.
On the arrival of the police, the gunman reportedly put a gun to his neck, but was talked down into surrendering by the police.
Clad in a helmet and tactical gear, he was subsequently arrested, media reports cited Gramaglia as saying.
(With inputs from AFP.)
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