By JADA LEMOS
Staff Writer
This weekend in Buffalo, New York, a tragic mass shooting took place at the Tops Supermarket, killing 10 people and injuring three others. 18-year-old Payton Gendron, the perpetrator, admitted his crime to be considered racially motivated, as the majority of victims were black. Gendron also admitted to planning this ahead of time and even made notes of the percentages of black people that would go into the supermarket at a certain time. He wanted the shooting to take place at the “busiest place at the busiest time” so he could target these people.
What makes this shooting even more alarming is that Gendron planned this on Discord, a social media app that allows communication between people around the world, and also went live on his Twitch account just before the shooting took place. Gendron has also made many threats at his old high school while being suspended and taken to a mental institution. It was also stated that Gendron apologized for aiming at a white man while the shooting was taking place.
His coworkers, neighbors, and friends made statements about the situation as well. One neighbor stated that they “never would have thought that in a million years he would have racist views.” The neighbor added that “it’s pretty shocking.” Another neighbor said that when you talked with Payton Gendron, “you wouldn’t get more than a word or two from him.”
Since then, all authorities have only released two names of the people that were killed. Ruth Whitfield, 86 years old, was the mother of retired Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield Jr. and was one of Gendron’s victims, according to Mayor Byron Brown. She had just gone to visit her husband in a nursing home and stopped by to pick up a few things from the supermarket when she was shot and killed. Brown also identified the supermarket security guard, Aaron Salter, as the second victim of the shooting. Salter was a former Buffalo Police lieutenant who was well known and respected around the community.
Gendron has been charged with 1st-degree murder, and if convicted of the crime, he will face a life sentence. Many people have since traveled from across the nation to pay their respects to the 13 victims of this gruesome racially motivated mass shooting.