Man indicted in Buffalo shooting
The white BUFFALO, N.Y. — man accused of killing 10 Black people at a supermarket in Buffalo appeared in court Thursday, standing silently during a brief proceeding attended by some relatives of the victims after a grand jury indicted him.
Payton Gendron, 18, wore an orange jail uniform, a mask and handcuffs. As he was led out, someone shouted “Payton, you’re a coward!” from the courtroom gallery. He is being held in jail without bail.
Assistant District Attorney Gary Hackbush said the first-degree murder indictment covers all 10 deaths.
Thirteen people in all were shot Saturday at the Tops Friendly Market in a predominantly Black neighborhood. Authorities continue to investigate the possibility of hate crime and terrorism charges.
District attorney John Flynn said his office would not comment while the grand jury investigation continues.
Gendron livestreamed the attack from a helmet camera before surrendering to police outside the store. Shortly before the attack, he posted hundreds of pages of writings to online discussion groups where he detailed his plans for the assault and his racist motivation.
Investigators have been examining those documents, which included a diary he kept on the chat platform Discord. Gendron is due back in court June 9.
The massacre at the super- market was unsettling even in a nation that has become almost numb to mass shoot- ings. All but two of the 13 of the people shot during the attack were Black. Gendron’s online writings said he planned the assault after becoming infatuated with white supremacist ideology he found online.
The diary said Gendron planned his attack in secret, with no help, but Discord has confirmed that an invitation to access his private writings was sent to a small group of people about 30 minutes before the assault began.
Some of them accepted the invitation. It was unclear how many read what he had written or logged on to view the assault live.