(New York) The investigation into the shooting that killed ten people Saturday inside a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, is investigating a possible “racial motivation”, announced the FBI.
Posted at 4:51 p.m.
Updated at 6:20 p.m.
“We are investigating this event as both a hate crime and a case of racially motivated violent extremism,” Stephen Belongia, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Buffalo office, said at a press conference.
Authorities said ten people were killed by a gunman wearing a bulletproof vest and armed with a high-powered rifle, and three others were injured, two very seriously.
The suspect is 18 years old and broadcast the killing live on a social network. He is from New York State.
Buffalo police tweeted at 3:26 p.m. that officers were “at the scene of a mass shooting” at Tops’ supermarket, and that the “shooter is already in custody.”
Up to five bodies were found in the parking lot, according to The Buffalo Newsthe other victims being inside the store.
Photo Mark Mulville, Associated Press
A body lies next to an open trunk of a vehicle in the parking lot of the supermarket.
The supermarket is located in a predominantly African-American neighborhood three miles north of downtown Buffalo.
A police source told the newspaper that the shooter had a camera and was wearing a bulletproof vest with a “military-grade helmet”.
PhotoJoshua Bessex, Associated Press
“It’s like being in a horror movie, but it’s all real,” a police officer told the daily.
“I’m following the situation regarding the killings at a grocery store in Buffalo. We stand with the people of Buffalo,” New York Senator Chuck Schumer tweeted.