Buffalo Supermarket Shooter Indicted on Murder, Terrorism, Hate Crime and Other Charges

The 18-year-old gunman is set to be arraigned on the indictment on Thursday afternoon

A memorial across the street from Tops Friendly Market at Jefferson Avenue and Riley Street on Wednesday, May 18, 2022 in Buffalo, NY. The Supermarket was the site of a fatal shooting of 10 people at a grocery store in a historically Black neighborhood of Buffalo by a young white gunman is being investigated as a hate crime and an act of racially motivated violent extremism, according to federal officials.
A memorial across the street from Tops supermarket on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo, NY. . Photo: Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty

The individual accused of killing 10 Black people and injuring three others during a shooting at a grocery store in New York has been indicted by a grand jury.

On Wednesday, Payton Gendron was indicted on 25 counts, including murder, domestic terrorism, hate crimes and other charges, the New York Times reported.

The indictment includes one count of domestic terrorism motivated by hate, 10 counts of first-degree murder as a hate crime, 10 counts of second-degree murder as a hate crime, three counts of attempted second-degree murder as a hate crime and one count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, according to The Washington Post.

The gunman, 18, is set to be arraigned on the indictment on Thursday afternoon, where he is expected to enter a plea, per ABC News. He has previously pleaded not guilty in previous court appearances, the Times said.

A representative for the Erie County District Attorney's Office tells PEOPLE that they "cannot comment on the charges until after the arraignment has occurred."

Attorney Daniel Dubois, who the Post reported is representing the shooter, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

The scene at Tops grocery store on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo, where a heavily armed 18-year-old White man entered the store in a predominantly Black neighborhood and shot 13 people, killing ten, Saturday, May 14, 2022.
Matt Burkhartt for The Washington Post via Getty

Officials previously described the shooting as a racially motivated attack that targeted Black people. It took place at a Tops Friendly Markets in an area that they have said is a predominantly Black neighborhood.

The gunman exited his car and shot four people in the store's parking lot, three of them fatally, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said previously. He then went inside the store and shot more people.

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A small vigil set up across the street from a Tops grocery store on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo, where a heavily armed 18-year-old White man entered the store in a predominantly Black neighborhood and shot 13 people, killing ten, Saturday, May 14, 2022.
Matt Burkhartt for The Washington Post via Getty

A security guard at the store, a former police officer named Aaron Salter, Jr., engaged the gunman, but the shooter was protected by his tactical gear, Gramaglia said. The gunman then fired at the security guard, killing him.

Buffalo police who responded to the scene engaged the suspect, who eventually put a gun to his own neck before officers convinced him to drop the weapon, Gramaglia said. At that point, the suspect was taken into custody.

At a prior press conference, Erie County Sheriff John Garcia said, "It was, straight up, a racially motivated hate crime." He added: "This person was pure evil."

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