The alleged shooter in the Buffalo mass shooting made very disturbing statements describing his motive and state of mind following his arrest, according to an official familiar with the investigation.
The official told the CNN that the statements made after the arrest were clear and full of hatred against the black community. The alleged shooter made it known that he was targeting the black community during the statements, according to the official.
Investigators have uncovered other information from search warrants and other methods that indicate the alleged shooter was “studying” previous hate attacks and shootings.
Authorities have previously said they are reviewing an alleged manifesto posted online in connection with the mass shooting.
“The evidence we have uncovered so far does not mislead that this is an absolutely racist hate crime. It will be prosecuted as a hate crime,” Buffalo Police Commander Joseph Gramaglia said on Sunday. “This is someone who has hate in his heart, soul and mind.”
Suspect scoured area
the shooting suspect, 18-year-old Payton Gendron, scoured the community and the grocery store as part of planning his attack, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown told CNN.
“It looks like he’s been here for maybe several days from reports I’ve heard and that he was scouting this community, he was exploring the supermarket, actually talking to some people in the area,” Brown told CNN.
Investigators believe the suspect surveyed the area and “targeted the busiest location at one of the busiest times,” New York Governor Hochul also told the newspaper. CNN.
“This was zip code targeting,” Hochul said. “This was the largest concentration of African Americans in just a few hours.”
That account matches a line from an apparent manifesto posted online, where an author claiming to be Gendron says, “Zipcode 14208 in Buffalo has the highest percentage of black people close enough to where I live.”
some background
The zip code that includes the store, 14208, is 78% black, according to the Census Bureau’s 2020 American Community Survey. It is among the 2% of zip codes nationwide with the highest percentage of black population and has the highest percentage of black population of any zip code in upstate New York. By comparison, 13748, the zip code that includes Gendron’s hometown of Conklin, is 89% white and 0.4% black.
*Sandoval Hub, Sarah Jorgenson and Casey Tolan of CNN, contributed to this report
Source: CNN Brasil
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