A CHILD’S scream for her mom and panicked parents’ desperate pleas for their kids amidst the chaos of Buffalo’s hate-fueled shooting haunts a witness living across the street.
“I keep hearing a little girl crying, ‘That’s my mom.’ Parents were yelling, ‘Where are my kids?’ And you couldn’t help,” Debrah Josey told The Sun on Sunday morning.
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Less than 24 hours earlier – around 2.30pm on Saturday – Payton Gendron allegedly shot 13 people at Tops Friendly Market.
Ten people died, and 11 of the 13 victims were black, according to law enforcement.
The names of the victims have yet to officially be released.
The suspected gunman is an 18-year-old white man who police said drove 200 miles to the only grocery store in a one-mile radius of one of the most segregated black communities in New York State.
“It’s a nightmare that I can’t put behind me,” Josey said as she stared across the street. “I’ve been here 35 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this.”
More than a dozen residents who spoke to The Sun described the area as a tight-knit, welcoming community.
They paid their respects Sunday morning as they cried on each other’s shoulders outside the cordoned-off grocery store.
Memorials with flowers, candles, cards, and signs saying “Black Lives Matter” and “Nonviolence begins with me” lined Jefferson Avenue.
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“I’m still trying to get my head around what happened and understand the thought behind why he did it,” Josey said.
“Black people are just trying to exist like everyone else. We don’t deserve to be killed.”
LIVE-STREAMED SHOOTING
Gendron was arrested and quickly arraigned on Saturday night when he pleaded not guilty to all charges.
He was seen in photos of the attack wearing military fatigues.
Police said he was wearing body armor and a helmet fitted with a camera to live-stream the shooting and upload it directly to Twitch.
The Sun has viewed the graphic video footage, which shows victims being gunned down in the parking lot at point-blank range and inside the store.
One family member told The Sun on Saturday night that they learned they lost a loved one from screenshots from the live stream.
“It’s impersonal and cold to find out this way,” said the family member, who wished to remain anonymous because the victim hasn’t yet been named.
A toddler was with the grandfather at the time, according to the family member.
IN COURT
The teenager pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, and his lawyer requested a forensics exam.
The judge denied bail, and Gendron is scheduled to be back in court on Thursday morning.
In a press conference on Sunday afternoon, cops revealed that the teen is currently on suicide watch and they believe he acted completely alone.
His parents’ home was also searched on Sunday afternoon and cops said they are co-operating with the investigation.
As it stands, the highest punishment that could be handed down by the state of New York is life in prison without parole.
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During a press conference, Garcia called the alleged gun rampage a targeted killing that was “pure evil.”
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said it was “the worst nightmare” the community could face.
“This person was pure evil,” an emotional Erie County Sheriff John Garcia told reporters.
“It was a straight-up racially motivated hate crime from somebody outside of our community.”
“It’s disheartening to know a small family member was at the scene without knowing if he got home OK. We were panicking for hours.”
New York State Attorney General Letitia James called the shooting an act of “domestic terrorism” that should be prosecuted as such.
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