United States: ten dead in a shooting in Buffalo, New York

Ten people were killed on Saturday at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York (northeastern United States), when a gunman opened fire, local daily The Buffalo News reported. , citing law enforcement sources. The shooter was reportedly arrested, according to the same local media. The FBI investigates a possible “racially motivated” crime.

“Ten people were killed by an armed man wearing a bulletproof vest and armed with a high-powered rifle, and three other people were injured, two of them very seriously,” the newspaper said, quoting a police official. at the scene of the tragedy and another source close to the police.

“It’s like stepping into a horror movie, but it’s all real. It’s like Armageddon,” said a police officer at the scene. “It’s so overwhelming,” he told the Buffalo News. One of those who died was a recently retired Buffalo police officer who worked security at the store, the two sources said.

Five corpses in the parking lot

Buffalo police tweeted at 3:26 p.m. (local) that officers were “at the scene of a mass shooting” at Tops’ supermarket, and that the “shooter is already in custody.” “Many people were hit by the shots,” according to the same source. Up to five bodies were found in the parking lot, according to The Buffalo News, with the other victims inside the store.

A police source told the newspaper that the shooter had a camera and was wearing a bulletproof vest with a “military-grade helmet”. Police are verifying whether the shooter broadcast the attack live, as reported by some on social media. “I am following the situation regarding the shooting at a grocery store in Buffalo very closely. We stand with the people of Buffalo,” New York Senator Chuck Schumer tweeted.

“We are investigating this incident 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.