BUFFALO, N.Y. — Witnesses are speaking out about what they saw during the mass shooting at the Tops Markets on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo on Saturday.
Buffalo Police tell 2 On Your Side that 13 people were shot in the incident, and confirmed that ten were killed. Eleven of the victims were African American, two are white. Four of the victims were store employees. A spokesperson for ECMC says they are treating the three survivors, and say all are currently in stable condition.
A Tops employee who was in the store at the time of the shooting told 2 On Your Side said she called 911 from her phone. "I was scared for my life, and I thought I was going to die today," she said.
Several people were in the parking lot during the incident and witnessed some of the scenes.
Braedyn Kephart and Shane Hill, both 20, pulled into the parking lot just as the shooter was exiting. They described him as a white male in his late teens or early twenties sporting full camo, a black helmet, and what appeared to be a rifle.
“He was standing there with the gun to his chin. We were like what the heck is going on? Why does this kid have a gun to his face?" Kephart said. He dropped to his knees. “He ripped off his helmet, dropped his gun, and was tackled by the police.”
Police closed off the block, lined by spectators, and yellow police tape surrounded the full parking lot.
The suspect's name is Payton S. Gendron, 18, of Conklin, New York. Eleven of his victims were Black and two were white. Erie County District Attorney John Flynn says there is some evidence that the shooting had a 'racial component'. Gendron is white.