During a press conference late Saturday afternoon Buffalo mayor Byron Brown said the “shooter traveled hours from outside this community” to carry out attack.
Buffalo police chief Joseph Gramaglia spoke after the mayor and confirmed that the shooting suspect drove “hours” to carry out the attack at Tops Friendly Market.
Gramaglia described the suspect as “an 18-year-old white male.” He said that upon reaching the grocery store the suspect “exited his vehicle” and was “heavily armed.” The suspect shot four people in the parking lot, three of whom died.
The suspect then went inside the store and exchanged gunfire with a retired Buffalo police officer, who worked in the store as a security guard.
The security guard hit the suspect with at least one round, but the suspect’s “armor plating” protected him from the bullet.
The suspect then killed the security guard and moved through the store, shooting other individuals.
Gramaglia said the suspect was wearing a tactical helmet and “a camera, that he was livestreaming what he was doing.”
Officials made clear the shooting will be investigated as as hate crime.
Breitbart News reported the Buffalo shooting earlier Saturday afternoon, noting with an update Gramaglia’s statement that 13 people were shot, 10 of them fatally.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.