Buffalo gunman laid out plans online weeks before shooting

A document posted online by the suspected shooter in the Buffalo supermarket massacre detailed his initial plans weeks before the shooting. 

According to a document obtained by the Washington Post on Monday, Payton Gendron refers to the local Tops supermarket as “attack area 1,” also noting two other areas in the city where he can “shoot all blacks.”

The document was based on a recent trip Gendron took to the city ahead of the massacre, in which he detailed travel paths to each location, the timing he needs if he was involved in a shootout with authorities, and estimated the total number of Black people he will kill during the planned scenario. 

Gendron’s 589-page document was published on the filesharing platform MediaFire on April 29, and a compilation of messages of the document was also posted on the social media platform Discord, where Gendron went under the widely used username of “jimboboiii,” according to the Post. 

The document also noted that Gendron was confronted by the supermarket’s security guard in March when the security guard asked Gendron about his plans. 

“I’ve seen you go in and out … What are you doing?” the security guard asked Gendron. Gendron replied that he was at the supermarket “collecting consensus data” on the store before making an excuse to leave for his vehicle. 

Gendron also added in his document numerous photos of himself using various social media handles, which included images of his daily life such as him obtaining a speeding ticket, the Post reported. 

Recently, Tops’ operation manager Shonnell Harris Teague told ABC News that she asked Gendron to leave the location a day before the shooting as regular customers complained about his presence at the store. 

Saturday’s massacre left ten people dead and wounded three others, raising more questions and concerns about racially-motivated domestic terrorist attacks in the U.S. 

Gendron, an 18-year-old resident of Conklin, N.Y., was charged with one count of first-degree murder in connection with the mass shooting Saturday night.

Authorities said that they will investigate the incident as a hate crime, noting that Gendron targeted Black customers and employees at the supermarket during the rampage.