Supermarket shooting suspect didn't belong in Buffalo 0:23
(CNN) --
Dominique Calhoun and her daughters were shopping for ice cream at Tops Friendly Markets supermarket in Buffalo, New York, on a Saturday afternoon in spring.
They had just pulled into the parking lot, ready to leave, when the horror began to unfold.
"People started screaming and running out of the Tops parking lot, so we backed up and parked right out the front in the Family Dollar parking lot," Calhoun told CNN affiliate Spectrum News 1 Buffalo.
"And that's when I came out and I saw all the bodies that were lying in the front. People were crying, people were running, people were trying to see if their loved ones were inside, officers were arriving, trucks firefighters, ambulances, and it was just a horrible situation.
ANALYSIS |
The Buffalo massacre further shakes a country insecure by violence
Around 2:30 p.m., an attacker wearing tactical gear and armed with "an assault weapon" shot and killed three people in the parking lot and wounded a fourth, the Erie County District Attorney said. , John J. Flynn.
The suspect then entered the store and exchanged gunfire with an armed security guard, who was a retired member of the Buffalo Police Department.
The guard's bullet had no effect due to the suspect's heavy tactical gear, Flynn said.
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Governor of New York speaks about the publications of the suspect of 4:53
Ten people were killed and three others injured at the store in a predominantly black neighborhood of the state's second-most populous city.
Eleven of the victims were black.
Authorities identified the suspect as Payton S. Gendron, an 18-year-old white male from Conklin, New York.
Apparently he had traveled some 200 miles to the store and live-streamed the attack.
The suspected shooter told authorities his target was the black community, according to an official familiar with the investigation.
He made disturbing statements describing his motive and state of mind after his arrest, the official said.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said Sunday that the attack was a racist hate crime and that he will be prosecuted as such.
Investigators believe the gunman acted on his own and was in Buffalo a day before the shooting to reconnoitre at the Tops store, Gramaglia said.
Authorities also uncovered other information indicating the suspected shooter was "studying" previous hate attacks and shootings, an official familiar with the investigation said.
Buffalo shooter ducked 'army style' while shooting people, witness says
Calhoun was one of several witnesses who described the terror and chaos during the mass shooting.
Grady Lewis had shopped at the store and was sipping his juice outside when he heard seven or eight shots.
"I knew it was... a shot and not a firecracker. So I looked up and saw smoke... and a guy in full military gear shooting at people," he said.
Lewis said the gunman was crouching "army style...shooting at people," and that he saw injured victims in the parking lot.
"I didn't have my phone on me and I was just screaming for someone to call the police. I still can't believe what happened," he said.
Law enforcement arrived two minutes after the shooting began, Lewis said, and the suspect surrendered.
Witness describes how he experienced the shooting in a Buffalo supermarket 1:04
"He came out, put the gun to his head, to his chin. Then he dropped it and took off his bulletproof vest, then got down on his hands and knees and put his hands behind his back," Lewis said, describing the arrest.
"I thought they were going to shoot him, but they didn't."
The suspect turned himself in to police and was taken into custody.
He was charged with first-degree murder on Saturday, prosecutors said, and has pleaded not guilty.
"I'm sad, hurt and angry because I never thought it would happen here in the city of Buffalo," resident Liz Bosley told Spectrum News.
"I know we have a lot of massacres, but I never would have thought we would have a massacre ... here in Buffalo."
CNN's Travis Caldwell contributed to this report.
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