18-year-old Payton Gendron shot and killed 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket Saturday afternoon. Before his shooting, he posted a crazed 106-page rambling manifesto online, something typical of several mass killers in recent years.
Payton Gendron of Conklin, New York, was charged with first degree murder Saturday, Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn said in a news release. Conklin is about a three-and-a-half hour drive from Buffalo.
He pleaded not guilty.
Last year the 18-year-old shooter Payton Gendron sparked a police investigation when he indicated he wanted to do a mass shooting at a graduation ceremony or after.
This led to a referral for the troubled teen to a mental health evaluation.
Gendron was later able to purchase firearms in the state.
The New York Post reported:
The teenager accused in Saturday’s Buffalo supermarket attack had once threatened to shoot his high school classmates but was still able to legally purchase three firearms, reports and sources said.
Payton Gendron, 18, of Conklin, New York, had sparked a state police investigation last year in Broome County that led him to be referred for a mental health evaluation and counseling, according to The Buffalo News.
“A school official reported that this very troubled young man had made statements indicating that he wanted to do a shooting, either at a graduation ceremony, or sometime after,” a government official familiar with the case told the paper.
Clad in tactical gear, Gendron opened fire at a Tops Friendly Market in a predominately black neighborhood Saturday afternoon, officials said. The white teen allegedly killed 10 people and injured three others. Eleven of the victims were black.
The semi-automatic rifle that was used to commit the massacre had the “n-word” painted on the barrel, along with the number 14, officials told the local paper.