Accused Buffalo shooter charged with 26 federal counts, including 13 hate crimes

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WHEC) — The man accused of killing 10 people in Buffalo in a race-motivated mass shooting will be federally charged with 26 counts.

A document from the United States District Court said Payton Gendron is charged with 10 counts of hate crimes resulting in death. He is also charged with:

• 3 counts of hate crimes involving bodily injury and attempt to kill
• 10 counts of use of a firearm to commit murder during and in relation to a crime of violence
• 3 counts of use and discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence

The court document said that the FBI determined that the attack was hate motived by looking at video footage from the GoPro camera recovered from Gendron, from social media, and from interviewing witnesses.

Gendron’s motive for the shooting at Tops Supermarket, according to authorities, was to "prevent Black people from replacing white people and eliminating the white race, and to inspire others to commit similar attacks."

Authorities said Gendron deliberately targeted Black people. After non-fatally shooting a white person, he apologized and continued to kill Black people at the supermarket. The document states that Gendron fired approximately 60 shots during the attack based on ballistics evidence.

The FBI recovered a receipt for the purchase of a candy bar at the Tops on March 8, 2022, handwritten sketches of the interior layout of the grocery store and an apology letter to Gendron’s family from the shooter’s bedroom.

According to federal docs, the rifle that the #Buffalo Tops Shooter used had various writings on it, including, the names of others who have committed mass shootings, racial slurs, the statement “Here’s your reparations!,” and the phrase “The Great
Replacement.” @news10nbc

— Jennifer Lewke (@WHEC_JLewke) June 15, 2022

Federal charges for Buffalo shooting by Evangelos Bourtis on Scribd