A day on the job turned harrowing at Tops, but these workers survived shooting rampage: What we know
As Buffalo, New York, continued to mourn Tuesday after 10 people were killed in a violent rampage at a grocery store, details emerged about survivors of the racially motivated attack.
They included grocery store employees who were shot in the neck and head while doing their jobs.
Zaire Goodman, 20, survived a bullet through his neck and back while he collected shopping carts in the parking lot of at Tops Friendly Markets on the city's Near East Side, where a white gunman shot 14 people in one of Buffalo's most concentrated Black neighborhoods.
Goodman is the son of Zeneta Everhart, the director of diversity and inclusion in state Sen. Tim Kennedy's office. Kennedy said on Twitter that Goodman was at home Sunday and "beginning the healing process."
Jennifer Warrington, 50, was working at the grocery store's pharmacy when she was shot in the head. A local priest and family friend said Warrington's injury was not severe and she was back at Mass at a Buffalo church about 24 hours after the shooting.
The third survivor, Christopher Braden, 55, of Lackawanna, also suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, Buffalo police said in a statement Sunday.
Of the 10 people killed and three injured, 11 were Black, police said. The suspect, who is white, is accused of being inspired by a racist theory that fueled the carnage.
'WHITE SUPREMACY IS A POISON':Emotional Biden in Buffalo condemns those who push 'perverse' replacement theory
'THIS IS THE HEART OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY':Buffalo shooting rattles close-knit neighborhood
Biden visits Buffalo, calls rampage 'terrorism'
Days after the nation's deadliest mass shooting this year, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden traveled to Buffalo on Tuesday to visit a memorial for the victims before meeting with families, first responders and law enforcement officials. There, they placed a bouquet of white flowers at a memorial outside Tops supermarket.
In his remarks during the visit, Biden condemned the attack as a "murderous, racist rampage" and an act of "terrorism" as he called for the nation to unite against white supremacy. Biden also called on Congress to act on gun reform to "keep assault weapons off our streets."
"Hate will not prevail, and white supremacy will not have the last word," Biden said. "But evil did come to Buffalo. It's come to all too many places, manifested in young men who massacred innocent people in the name of hateful and perverse ideology rooted in fear and racism."
"White supremacy is a poison," he added. "It's a poison running through our body politic that's been allowed to fester and grow right in front of our eyes."
MORE DETAILS:In Buffalo shooting, outrage grows as details emerge about white supremacist motive
School incident reveals red flags
In the last days of suspect Payton Gendron’s senior year of high school last spring, he was asked a question for an economics class virtual learning program, the Associated Press reported: "What do you plan to do when you retire?"
His answer: "Murder-suicide."
Despite telling school officials it was just a joke, the teen was questioned by state police and underwent psychiatric evaluation at a hospital.
He was released a day and a half later. Two weeks after that, he rode in the school's senior parade, where he sat atop a convertible decorated with balloons and signs saying "Congratulations."
About a year later, authorities say he went on a violent, racist rampage that left 10 people dead.
Should ‘red flag’ law have barred Buffalo shooting suspect from buying firearms?
Amid news that the shooting comes a year after the suspect was taken to a hospital for mental health treatment for threats involving his high school, Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday said she is investigating whether the state's red flag law had any connection to the gunman.
New York’s red flag law allows courts to issue an extreme risk protection order that temporarily prevents people who pose a threat to themselves or others from buying or possessing firearms.
State police on Monday said a red flag law request was not filed in connection to the suspect's school-related threat and mental health evaluation in 2021. Beau Duffy, a state police spokesperson, declined to comment further on the red flag issue.
Duffy also would not provide specific details about the threat in 2021, writing in an email that it was "general in nature, did not target anyone specific or the school or any other entity, and it did not include any mention of firearms or shooting."
What happened at Tops?
Armed with an assault-style rifle and tactical gear, an 18-year-old suspect arrived Saturday afternoon at a Tops Friendly Markets grocery store on the city's Near East Side and shot four people in the parking lot, police said. Then, he entered the store and continued the violent rampage while wearing a camera and livestreaming.
Buffalo police confronted the gunman, who pointed his gun at himself before surrendering. Law enforcement officials have said he would have continued the attack if he had not been stopped by officers.
"We have uncovered information that if he escaped the supermarket, he had plans to continue his attack," Buffalo Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia told ABC News on Monday. "He had plans to continue driving down Jefferson Ave to shoot more Black people ... possibly go to another store (or) location."
PREVIOUS REPORTS:Buffalo suspected gunman was kicked out of Tops store the night before rampage
Online document espoused racist conspiracy theory
Federal agents are working to confirm the authenticity of a 180-page document posted online that detailed the plot and identified the suspect by name, according to an official who was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
The document espoused a racist conspiracy theory that is often entwined with anti-Semitism and anti-immigrant sentiment, and its writer called himself a supporter of the gunman who killed nine Black parishioners at a Charleston church in 2015. The official also said the suspect repeatedly visited white supremacist websites.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia has called the attack on the store "an absolute racist hate crime" and said the suspect "has hate in their heart, soul and mind."
Officials: Suspect planned attack for months, targeted Black neighborhood
The white gunman is accused of plotting the brutal, racist attack for months and of targeting a Black neighborhood, officials have said.
According to a document he appears to have posted online, the suspect plotted livestreaming an attack on Black people as far back as November. The document included hand-drawn maps of the grocery store and tallies of the number of Black people he saw there when he traveled for hours in March to scout the store.
The suspect was kicked out of the store the night before the attack, according to a grocery store manager.
REMEMBERING THE VICTIMS:These are the victims of the Buffalo shooting
A community left devastated
A security guard hailed as a hero, a deacon and a civil rights advocate were among the victims, whose ages ranged from 32 to 86 years old.
Hundreds gathered Sunday for a vigil and march in a tight-knit community that had been shattered by loss, grief and outrage.
After the attack also shuttered the neighborhood's only grocery store, residents and community organizations rallied to support each other by donating food and pooling resources.
"This is the neighborhood Tops. This is the Black community – this is the heart of the Black community," resident Glen Marshall said. "If we don't live in this community, we grew up in this community. Everybody comes back to the community."
Contributing: Joey Garrison, John Bacon, Adria R. Walker and Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
Contact News Now Reporter Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.