Wis. vic’sBUFFALO name on teen’s gun
The hate-fueled teen accused in Buffalo’s massacre apparently scrawled the name of a woman slain in the Waukesha, Wis., parade rampage on his gun — adding, “Here’s your reparations,’’ according to law-enforcement sources and reports.
The chilling detail surfaced as it was reported that suspect Payton Gendron, 18, was armed to the teeth with several 30round magazines and the AR-15-style assault rifle, along with two other guns.
The rifle, allegedly used by Gendron in Saturday’s horror, appeared to bear the misspelled name of Virginia Sorenson, as well as possibly that of another Wisconsin parade victim, on its barrel, the Daily Beast said.
Sorenson, 79, a white woman, was one of six people killed during a Christmas parade in Waukesha last November when a black man plowed his SUV into a crowd of celebrants. Suspect Darrell Edward Brooks endorsed attacking whites on social media before the horror.
Gendron, an alleged white supremacist accused of targeting a predominantly black neighborhood for the massacre, also wrote the n-word and, “Here’s your reparations” on the firearm, the sources also told The Post.
Officials said he purchased his three guns legally in New York and Pennsylvania and then illegally enhanced at least the rifle to make it more lethal.
A gun-shop owner in upstate Endicott told the New York Times on Sunday that he sold Gendron a Bushmaster assault rifle recently. The shop’s background check on Gendron had not turned up any red flags, said owner Robert Donald.
“I don’t understand why an 18-year-old would even do this,’’ Donald said. “I know I didn’t do anything wrong, but I feel terrible about it.”
Gendron was forcibly hospitalized briefly by authorities for a mentalhealth evaluation last year after making a “generalized threat’’ of violence against his school, police said.