Harrowing radio calls made by Buffalo police officers and firefighters reveals the chaos the emergency crews found at the scene of the Tops Friendly Markets Saturday afternoon after a gunman opened fire and killed 10 people.
Police were first alerted to the scene of the supermarket at around 2.31pm, when a dispatcher first directed a couple of officers to respond to a ‘shots fired’ call, according to audio recordings obtained by DailyMail.com.
Just about one minute later, the first cops and firefighters on the scene reported seeing bodies strewn outside the supermarket, and soon one officer on the scene makes a plea to the dispatcher, saying: ‘Radio, send as many cars as you possibly can’ as sirens could be heard going off in the distance.
Soon, a dispatcher informs the officers about a ‘possible active shooter’ at Tops, saying there are ‘still shots being fired.’
Less than 30 seconds later, firefighters on the scene radioed in that there were ‘at least three people on the ground,’ and the suspect ‘might be wearing body armor.’
Moments later, police reported that they had the suspect ‘cornered’ and ‘have him in custody.’ That call came just about six minutes after police were first dispatched to the scene.
Still, officials to clear out the supermarket, as they continued to find more victims of the apparently racially-motivated shooting.
By around 2:35pm officials began calling it a ‘mass casualty incident,’ with cops on the scene asking for more cars to control the crowds that had gathered outside as they were ‘working on clearing the store.’
They announced at the time that there were at least three people shot, at least two of whom were shot directly in the head.
More victims were soon found dead inside the building, as one police officer could be heard exclaiming: ‘We have bodies down here.’
Police then called for more Crime Scene Unit officers to collect numerous bodies, bullets and magazines, and asked for further assistance in clearing the surrounding area of family members who had gathered outside worried about their loved ones.
In the final call of the audio recording, about 20 minutes after police were first dispatched to the scene, another police officer reveals that employees at the shop had locked themselves in a room near customer service to keep themselves safe during the rampage.
In the end, police say, 18-year-old Payton Gendron, killed 10 people at the store and injured three others.
Gendron, of Conklin, NY, has since pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. He is now being held without bail and faces life in prison.
Buffalo officials now say Gendron would have continued his rampage had he not been stopped by cops, and planned to drive to a second store to target black people.
‘His plans were to drive out of here and continue driving down Jefferson Avenue looking to shoot more black people and possibly go to another store location,’ Buffalo Police Chief Joseph Gramaglia told ABC News.
The teen, who claims to identify as a white supremacist, issued several ‘clear and hate-filled’ statements about his motive and state of mind following his arrest, and admitted that he was targeting the black community when he carried out the massacre, an official confirmed to CNN.
Erie County District Attorney John Flynn revealed Sunday night that officials are also considering charging Gendron with domestic terrorism.
‘We’re looking at potentially multiple additional charges to be filed,’ Flynn told Fox News. ‘We are looking at domestic terrorism charges, we are looking at hate crime charges, there’s actually a charge in New York State called domestic terrorism motivated by hate. So, that charge right there encompasses the actual terrorism and the hate charge together, all in one charge.’
The alleged killer, who is due back in court on Thursday, is currently on suicide watch after he ‘put the gun under his chin’ as though to shoot himself following Saturday’s attack. Officers managed to ‘talk him down’ and arrest him. Gendron is being held in a separate unit from other inmates.
‘He’s on direct observation from our deputies [with] video surveillance,’ Erie County Sheriff John Garcia explained. ‘He will be treated as everyone else is treated within the Erie County holding center — humanely, with respect. And he will receive the correctional help and the mental help that is needed.’
Police believe Gendron planned the attack for months before driving three hours to Buffalo to carry out the vile ambush that authorities are calling an act of ‘violent extremism’ motivated by race.
Shonnell Teague, manager of Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, claims suspected gunman Payton Gendron visited the store on Friday while disguised as a homeless person.
‘He was acting like he was homeless and needed change,’ Teague told The New York Daily News on Sunday. ‘He really was checking out the store.’
Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia confirmed the allegations, noting Gendron, 18, who lives nearly 200 miles away from Buffalo made multiple stops in the area the day before the massacre.
Shonnell Teague (pictured), manager of Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, claims suspected gunman Payton Gendron visited the store on Friday while disguised as a homeless person. She claims he ‘acted like he needed change’ but was really surveying the store
‘He was in the Buffalo area, he was right in this area the day before,’ Gramaglia said at a news conference Sunday. ‘We have identified some of the locations that he was at. We know he did some reconnaissance on the area and the store.’
Investigators, while executing a search warrant at his home on Sunday, also found evidence that the teen had been ‘studying’ previous hate crimes and shootings before he carried out his own attack.
‘The evidence that we have uncovered so far makes no mistake that this is an absolute racist hate crime. It will be prosecuted as a hate crime,’ Gramaglia said. ‘This is someone who has hate in their heart, soul and mind.’
It was also revealed Sunday that Gendron was not on law enforcement’s radar – despite having underwent a mental health evaluation last summer after he threatened to open fire at his high school.
Police were called to Gendron’s high school in Conklin, New York, located near the Pennsylvania border, on June 8, 2021 after he made a threatening statement, authorities revealed during a press conference Sunday.
‘The state police responded. They investigated. They interviewed the subject. And they felt at the time it was appropriate to have that individual brought in for a mental health evaluation,’ Gramaglia explained.
Gramaglia said the threat was not racist and not directed at a specific person or place.
However, an unnamed law enforcement source told The Associated Press Gendron, then-17, had threatened to shoot up Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna High School around graduation.
Gendron was released after spending a day-and-a-half in the hospital. Gramaglia said that after his discharge, Gendron had no further contact with law enforcement.
‘Nobody called in,’ the police commissioner said. ‘Nobody called any complaints.’
New York Governor Kathy Hochul told ABC News on Sunday that an investigation would focus on what could have been done to stop Gendron, since he had advertised his views online and had been on authorities’ radar.
Teague, who was in the store during the attack, detailed the horrors of Saturday’s massacre on her Facebook page
‘I want to know what people knew, and when they knew it,’ she said, adding the probe would be ‘calling upon our law enforcement as well as our social media platforms.’
President Joe Biden will travel to Buffalo on Tuesday to meet with the families of mass shooting victims, the White House confirmed to CNN. The president also issued condolences to the families on Sunday and said he was receiving regular updates from his team about the massacre.
‘We’re still gathering the facts, but already, the Justice Department has stated publicly that it’s investigating the matter as a hate crime, racially-motivated act of white supremacy and violent extremism,’ Biden said.
‘As they do, we must all work together to address the hate that remains a stain on the soul of America. Our hearts are heavy once again, but our resolve must never waver.’
Authorities said Gendron drove to Buffalo from his home several hours away to launch the attack, which he broadcast in real time on social media platform Twitch, a live video service owned by Amazon.com.
He then opened fire at the Tops grocery store using a gun that he legally purchased but had illegally modified with a high-capacity magazine.
Teague, who was in the store during the attack, detailed the horrors of Saturday’s massacre on her Facebook page.
‘My daughter and her boyfriend and I were standing right there and came back inside to get snacks, and they (were) at the register when the guy came in shooting,’ she wrote.
‘I just want to thank God for our lives. And my prayers go out to all the victims and their families.’
Investigators are reportedly working to assemble a timeline of Gendron’s activities before the attack. Despite confirming that he surveyed the store on Friday, Commissioner Gramaglia has declined to detail the gunman’s interactions ahead of the attack, which was first called into 911 around 2.30pm.
Gramaglia did confirm that in addition to the AR-15 that Gendron fired during attack, officials discovered a rifle and shotgun in his vehicle. Those weapons were not used in the massacre.
He also revealed that law enforcement personnel searched the accused gunman’s Conklin home on Sunday, as well as a shed on the property. Pictures taken at the scene show FBI agents collecting and photographing evidence from the property.
Federal agents also interviewed Gendron’s parents, Paul and Pamela, who are said to be cooperating with investigators.
‘The state police and FBI are at his house,’ Gramaglia told The New York Daily News. ‘They’ve spoken with the parents. From what I’ve been told, they’re absolutely distraught, devastated, cooperating.’
Gov. Hochul said Sunday she was dismayed that the suspect managed to live-stream his attack on social media, which she blamed for hosting a ‘feeding frenzy’ of violent extremist ideology.
‘The CEOs of those companies need to be held accountable and assure all of us that they’re taking every step humanly possible to be able to monitor this information,’ she told ABC News. ‘How these depraved ideas are fermenting on social media, it’s spreading like a virus now.
Hochul also slammed Twitch for allowing a ‘military-style execution’ and ‘the massacre of innocent people’ to be ‘viewed by other people.’
‘There’s not enough monitoring because clearly this information was out there. Don’t they have a responsibility? I know it’s a huge, vast undertaking, but these companies have a lot of money. They have resources. They have technology. Key words show up, they need to be identified, someone needs to watch this, and to shut it down the second it appears,’ she said.
‘And short of that, we will protect the right to free speech, but there is a limit. There is a limit to what you can do and hate crime is not – hate speech is not protected.’
Social media and streaming platforms like Twitch, which said it removed the stream after less than two minutes, have grappled with controlling violent and extremist content for years.
‘The user has been indefinitely suspended from our service, and we are taking all appropriate action, including monitoring for any accounts rebroadcasting this content,’ a Twitch spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters.
Police said Sunday they are also investigating a 180-page manifesto that Gendron reportedly posted before going on his rampage, which included a plan to drive several counties away to carry out the shooting.
Gendron identified himself as a white supremacist in the document, explaining his fears that white people are being replaced by other races. A preliminary investigation found Gendron repeatedly visited websites espousing white supremacist ideologies and race-based conspiracy theories – and extensively researched the 2019 mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, and the man who killed dozens at a summer camp in Norway in 2011, an official said.
It wasn’t immediately clear why Gendron had traveled about 200 miles to Buffalo and targeted this particular grocery store, but investigators believe Gendron had specifically researched the demographics of the population around the grocer and had been searching for communities with a high number of black residents.
Police said Gendron, wearing military gear and livestreaming with a helmet camera, shot a total of 11 black people and two white people in Saturday’s rampage before surrendering to authorities. Screenshots purporting to be from the Twitch broadcast appear to show a racial epithet scrawled on the rifle used in the attack, as well as the number 14, a likely reference to a white supremacist slogan.
Officials said the rifle Gendron used in the attack was purchased legally but the magazines he used for ammunition were not allowed to be sold in New York.
Robert Donald, the owner of Vintage Firearms in Endicott, N.Y., told The New York Times on Sunday that he recently sold a Bushmaster assault weapon to the man accused of the massacre.
Donald, 75, who primarily sells collectible firearms, said the teen bought the gun without leaving an impression and was shocked when he got a call from investigators regarding Gendron.
All ten of of the victims have been named by family members by Sunday, including security guard Aaron Salter – a retired Buffalo police officer – who fired multiple shots at Gendron. A bullet hit the gunman’s armor, but had no effect. Gendron then killed Salter, before hunting more victims.
Shopper Ruth Whitfield, an 86-year-old grandmother, who is also the mother of former Buffalo fire commissioner Garnell Whitfield, was killed while shopping for groceries.
She had just visited her husband in a nursing home and decided to stop at the Tops on her way home to get something to eat, WGRZ reported.
Katherine Massey, 72, had gone to the supermarket to do her grocery shopping when she was fatally shot. Her brother was supposed to pick her up after she finished her errands.
Massey was a civil rights and education advocate. Former Erie County Legislator Betty Jean Grant, who had known Massey for over 20 years, told The Buffalo News that she ‘did everything she could to lift up Buffalo’s black community.’
Last year, Massey wrote a letter calling for more federal regulation of firearms, citing both urban street violence and mass shootings.
Pearly Young, 77, who fed needy residents in Buffalo’s Central Park neighborhood for 25 years, was shot and killed during the massacre, 11Alive reporter Madison Carter tweeted.
Young, originally of Alabama, moved to New York as a young adult and married a pastor.
She had gone to lunch with her sister-in-law on Saturday and was dropped off at the grocer afterwards. Her son was expected to pick her up, but when he arrived at the store, the scene was in total chaos.
Her relatives told Alabama.com Young will be remembered for her love for God and her family.
Celestine Chaney, 65, who was at the supermarket to buy strawberries for shortcake, was killed during the shooting, her son, Wayne Jones, 48, confirmed.
She was also picking up some shrimp her husband, Raymond.
The loving mother and grandmother-of-six was at the supermarket with her older sister, JoAnn Daniels.
Daniels told The Buffalo Times she never saw Gendron, but heard the sounds of his assault rifle.
She and Chaney were trying to flee when the 65-year-old was shot.
‘She fell and I thought she had got up and was behind me, but she wasn’t behind me,’ Daniels recalled.
Roberta Drury, 32, was at the store to buy groceries for dinner when she was fatally shot, her sister Amanda Drury, 34, said.
She had moved to Buffalo from the Syracuse, New York, area to be with her older brother after his bone marrow transplant, her sister, Amanda Drury, told Reuters.
Drury helped him with his bar, The Dalmatia, and with his family.
‘She was vibrant and outgoing, could talk to anyone,’ Amanda said.
Heyward Patterson, who would often give people rides to and from the supermarket and help them carry their groceries, was also among the 10 people fatally shot, according to Patterson’s great niece Teniqua Clark.
He earned the nickname ‘Jitney’ because of his help at the grocer.
He was also a church deacon and would welcome parishioners and escort them to their seats.
‘He would give the shirt off his back,’ his wife, Tirzah Patterson, told The Buffalo News. ‘That’s who he is. He wouldn’t hurt anybody. Whatever he had, he’d give it to you.’
Following the shooting, the entire city of Buffalo was left in a state of shock – but those who knew Gendron said there were a host of warning signs that the teen was falling into extremism and hateful beliefs.
Officials at the Susquehanna Valley High School brought in New York State Police to investigate Gendron in June of 2021 after he made statements that he would shoot fellow students.
A year later he ended up shooting 13 people – 10 of them fatally – during an attack motivated by his hatred for black people at a Top Market supermarket in Buffalo.
‘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 source told the Buffalo News.
After police looked into the account, Gendron was referred for mental health evaluation and counseling.
Classmates said that he often acted strangely at times and espoused extremist views on politics.
Last year, one former student recalled, Gendron wore a hazmat suit to school for a week. She believed it had something to do with protecting himself from the coronavirus, but she didn’t rule out the fact that he was making a joke.
‘It was the most extra thing that I ever saw him do,’ a former classmate who asked not to be named said.
There were other indications of Gendron’s fragile mental state.
During a class exercise in political class in which the students created their own countries with the government of their choice, Gendron’s pick was an autocratic regime that the classmate described as ‘Hitler-esque.’
‘His views were extreme,’ the student said. ‘You could pick any form of government that you wanted and he picked a totalitarian government.’
The classmate recalled that he almost collided with her head on in his car, but she brushed it off at the time to careless driving.
‘He was definitely into video games – shooter games,’ she said.
‘It’s so mind-blowing to think that it could have been us,’ she said. ‘I know he had his manifesto, but what if he decided to do a test run on us.’
For the most part he was quiet, but she said he would ‘smile weirdly’ when he spoke to people. She said she didn’t remember him every having a girlfriend.
Gendron is one of four boys born to Paul and Pamela Gendron, two civil engineers with the state who live in Conklin, NY, three and half hours south of Buffalo. Paul coached his kids in the town soccer league and at least one neighbor found him ‘strange.’ His mother appeared conceited, locals said.
‘He’s from this pristine family,’ a schoolmate said. ‘They have everything together, they were just perfect.’
In photos posted by his mother on Facebook, Payton Gendron appears to tower over his father and others.
‘He was 6’1’ or 6’2” his schoolmate said. ‘He was a big guy.’
The family appears to be a tight-knit suburban family that played LaserTag together, when to Autumn festivals, the beach and dined together in restaurants.
‘To be honest, the mother was kind of snooty,’ a local parent who asked not to be named said. ‘Like she was better than everyone else. The father was strange. Like when you meet someone and they just seem off.’
A neighbor recalled him bringing home a human-sized Brontosaurus that he build for a school project. School records show that he was a good student and made high honors in his senior year, scoring higher than 92 percent in all his classes.
Facebook photos show that Gendron went on a few college tours and spent some time enrolled in Broome County Community College.
A college spokeswoman told he Buffalo News that he was no longer enrolled.
‘They have a really nice family,’ neighbor Nancy Santucci said. ‘They seem like regular people. In a million years I never would think that anyone from this neighborhood would drive to Buffalo to carry out a racially motivated shooting.’
‘I’m just shocked,’ she said.