THE 18-year-old man who allegedly shot and killed 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket earlier this month may have tipped off a former federal agent about his violent plans on a white supremacist chat room.
Law enforcement officials say they are now investigating the ex-agent to determine whether he learned of Payton Gendron’s plans before they were carried out.
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Gendron, 18, allegedly wore tactical body armor and helmet as he entered the Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo with a rifle shortly after 2.30 pm on May 14 and opened fire.
Eerie County Sherrif John Garcia alleges that Gendron drove up to 200 miles over five hours to get to that specific area of New York, which is a predominately black community.
Now, unnamed law enforcement sources have told the Buffalo News that a retired federal agent was on a short list of people who received an invitation that would have allowed him to view the shooter’s plans about 30 minutes before the killing spree began.
According to the outlet, Gendron had been in regular contact with the former agent prior to the shooting through an online chat room that centered on racist and white supremacist discourse.
About a half hour before the first shots were fired, he allegedly sent invitations to six people to join a chat room where he detailed his violent plans, Buffalo News reports.
It is unclear if the agent accepted the invitation or read the plans.
The forewarning included the location of where he intended to carry out the attack.
“What is especially upsetting is that these six people received advanced notice of the Buffalo shooting, about 30 minutes before it happened,” one of the law enforcement sources told the Buffalo News.
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They continued: “These were like-minded people who used this chat group to talk about their shared interests in racial hatred, replacement theory and hatred of anyone who is Jewish, a person of color or not of European ancestry.
“The FBI has verified that none of these people called law enforcement to warn them about the shooting.”
The former federal agent is believed to reside in Texas.
The media outlet said authorities are also looking into whether the retired officer had offered any insight to Gendron prior to the deadly shooting.
Previous reports have indicated that there were 15 individuals who accepted chat room invite before the shooter opened fire on the supermarket shoppers.
Footage of the attack was streamed online on video sharing site Twitch.
The Sun has viewed what appears to be graphic video footage of the incident, showing victims being gunned down in the parking lot at point-blank range and inside the store.
Twitch did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication. However, in a statement, the company said it removed the live stream two minutes after it started, Reuters reported.
Aaron Salter, Roberta Drury, 32; Margus Morrison, 52 and Geraldine Talley were among the victims of the shooting.
Celestine Chaney, 65, Heyward Patterson, 67; Katherine Massey, 72; Pearl Young 77; Ruth Whitfield, 86, and Andre Mackneil, 53 also died.
US Attorney Merrick Garland revealed that the Department of Justice is investigating the shooting as a “hate crime” and “an act of racially-motivated violent extremism”.
A deranged 180-page racist manifesto allegedly authored by the suspect has also been circulating, which has not been independently verified by The Sun.
Gendron – who local media outlets reported had been a student at the State University of New York’s Broome Community College near Binghamton – was arrested by police at the scene.
The rifle used was legal to buy in New York, but it was modified illegally in Pennsylvania, according to reports.
During a court appearance after the attack, Gendron wore a paper gown and a mask and was barefoot.
Gendron’s lawyer told the judge his client was pleading not guilty to the charge of murder in the first degree and requested a forensics exam. The judge denied bail.
Funerals for may of the victims of the Buffalo massacre have been underway in recent days as the city marks two weeks since the attack took place.
On Saturday, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at the funeral of victim Ruth Whitfield.
On Friday, the last remaining hospitalized victim was discharged, local outlet WIVB reported.
According to the outlet, the victim discharged on Friday was 55-year-old Christopher Braden, who is the third hospitalized victim to survive the shooting.
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