Payton Gendron, who killed 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket, stopped by the store two months before the deadly shooting.
Gendron showed up at the Tops Market in March, according to multiple reports. A white employee recalled an interaction with the mass shooter, who allegedly made racist comments to the woman about working in a predominantly Black neighborhood.
“He told me that I didn’t belong there,” Tops produce manager Rose Wisocki told Buffalo’s NBC affiliate. “I just don’t understand how he could have so much hatred in his heart for such wonderful people. The whole community is wonderful.”
Gendron, an 18-year-old white man, targeted Buffalo’s Tops Market in a mass shooting on Saturday (May 14). He shot 13 people, killing 10 of them. 11 of the victims were Black.
The gunman lived about 200 months away from Buffalo in Conklin, New York. Gendron cited the “Great Replacement Theory,” a racist conspiracy, in a manifesto uploaded before the attack.
Multiple members of Griselda commented on the shooting, which happened in their hometown of Buffalo. Benny The Butcher expressed disbelief on Twitter. Westside Gunn and Conway The Machine offered up prayers after learning about the tragedy.
“Pray for Buffalo,” Conway wrote. “My heart goes out to all the families and friends of the victims and everyone that was impacted by this senseless act of racism and violence. This is beyond unfathomable. Prayers up for my city!”
Learn more about the shooting below.