The man accused of carrying out a racist shooting at a Buffalo supermarket has been charged with 25 counts of murder, domestic terrorism and other charges related to the May 14 massacre, which left 10 black residents dead.
The suspect, 18-year-old Payton Gendron, was arrested shortly after the shooting stopped and turned himself in to police. He is scheduled to appear in court in Erie County for trial Thursday afternoon, according to County District Attorney John J. Flynn.
The 25-count indictment includes first-degree homicide charges and second-degree murder charges as hate crimes, as well as three counts of attempted murder and single charges of weapons and domestic terrorism. Mr. Gendron has pleaded not guilty.
Mr. Gendron, a confessed white supremacist, is accused of shooting 13 people, almost all black, at a Tops supermarket in a mostly black section of Buffalo, New York’s second-largest city. Three of those shot that Saturday afternoon survived the attack, which was one of the worst racist massacres in recent U.S. history.
In the months leading up to the shooting, Mr Gendron had posted comments in a private newspaper on the Discord messaging site, full of racist writings and detailed plans for a Buffalo attack. He included photographs of himself posing with the assault-style weapon that officials say he used to carry out the shooting.
These writings were shared with a small group of people just before the attack, which Mr. Gendron also aired on Twitch, a popular live streaming site for gamers.
The attack of Mr. Gendron was killed just 10 days before another devastating massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, which left 21 dead, including 19 children. Salvador Ramos, also 18, was shot dead during the attack.
Susan C. Beachy contributed to the research.