In their investigation into Saturday's mass casualty incident, FBI agents and New York State troopers questioned the parents of Buffalo shooter Payton Gendron on Sunday. They also conducted other searches.
“From what I've been told, they're absolutely distraught and devastated,” Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said of the parents, as reported by Fox News.
According to the NY Post report:
The FBI is currently conducting an interview with Buffalo gunman Payton Gendron's parents, both of whom are civil engineers employed by the federal Department of Transportation, according to law enforcement sources and on-line documents.
Paul and Pamela Gendron are cooperating with investigators, sources told AP.
Photos taken inside the home on Sunday showed agents going through the items stored in a massive shed that is located on the property.
Fox News, meanwhile, detailed what the investigators are looking into:
Gramaglia said investigators were working on getting search warrants and then executing them for Gendron's residence, the vehicle he drives, his social media activities including his digital footprint, as well as technology including phones and a laptop computer.
When asked if the investigators believe that there were other people involved, Gramaglia informs the media: “This investigation is showing that he did this by himself. We are again looking into some other aspects that we're not going to get into.”
The top cop also noted that law enforcement officials have obtained warrants , and will continue to obtain warrants “both on the state and the federal levels.”
Investigators have discovered at least three guns. “There were two in the car and one in his possession,” Gramaglia told reporters and added, “One was a rifle, one was a shotgun… he had an AR-15.”
The suspect, who is 18 years old, reportedly traveled 200 miles from his family’s residence in Conklin, NY, to the Buffalo Tops Friendly Market on Saturday afternoon. According to RedState, he also visited the market on the previous day and was involved in the “astonishing” conversation with a witness.
Funeral mourners gathered on Sunday near Tops supermarket, and built a variety of memorials.
The incident is being looked into in the context of a hate crime since the suspect has been on extremist websites and created a bizarre 180-page manifesto. The FBI has since launched an online portal for tips regarding the shooting on Saturday. Anyone with information related to the attack is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI(1-800-225-5324).
President Joe Biden earlier on Sunday addressed the shooting during the latest National Peace Officers Memorial Service at the White House:
A single gunman, armed in weapons of war and a hateful soul, murdered 10 innocents in cold blood, at an upscale grocery store on Saturday afternoon. Jill and myself, as well as everyone else, offer prayers for the victims, their families, and the devastated community.
The First Lady and President will depart on Tuesday for Buffalo, New York, “to grieve with the community that lost ten lives in a senseless and horrific mass shooting,” the White House announced Sunday.
Finally, we pay tribute to all the people who died in this incident. RedState's Nick Arama painted a moving portrait of a few who have been identified as of now.
