Livestream of shooting shows gunman pulling up to supermarket and saying, ‘Just got to go for it’

CNN has obtained a portion of the Twitch livestream that shows the shooter pulling up to a Tops Friendly Markets store in Buffalo, New York, before opening fire on people Saturday afternoon.

The video is taken from the point of view of the shooter as he’s driving into the parking lot of the Tops market. The shooter, who is seen in the rearview mirror wearing a helmet, is heard saying, “Just got to go for it” before he pulls into the front of the store. In the video, store patrons can be seen walking through the parking lot as the suspect drives up. 

In a news conference on Saturday evening, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said the shooting was livestreamed.  

In a statement sent to CNN, Twitch confirmed the shooting was streamed and said the user “has been indefinitely suspended from our service, and we are taking all appropriate action, including monitoring for any accounts rebroadcasting this content.”

CNN is not airing the video at this time.

Twitch, the popular live-streaming platform best known for gaming, confirmed on Saturday that the Buffalo supermarket shooting suspect used its platform to stream a live broadcast during the attack. 

Twitch said that the user “has been indefinitely suspended from our service, and we are taking all appropriate action, including monitoring for any accounts rebroadcasting this content.”

Officials during a news conference earlier Saturday did not say where the livestream was, only that it was on a “social media platform,” according to Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas has been briefed on the shooting in Buffalo, according to an official tweet from the department.

“DHS is actively coordinating with all relevant local, state, and federal agencies and will continue to provide the Department’s full support,” according to the tweet.

Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn said the suspect in the Buffalo mass shooting will be arraigned on charge of murder in first degree Saturday evening. 

Speaking at a press conference with other officials, Flynn said, “I have already called a judge – Judge [Craig] Hannah – to come downtown immediately and arraign this individual so within the next hour; this individual will be arraigned on a charge of murder in the first degree.”

Officials have not named the suspect in the mass shooting thus far.

Saturday’s mass shooting in Buffalo is being investigated as a hate crime, the FBI said.

Stephen Belongia, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Buffalo Field Office, said the FBI is assisting in the investigation as well during a news conference.

Erie County Sheriff John Garcia called the shooting “pure evil” during the news conference.

Out of the 13 victims, 11 are Black while two are White, according to Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia.

Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said the supermarket shooting suspect was wearing tactical gear and livestreaming as he entered the store.

“At approximately 2:30 today, an individual who the mayor stated is not from this area and is from hours away, drove to Buffalo and went to … the Tops market. He exited his vehicle, he was very heavily armed. He had tactical gear. He had a tactical helmet on. He had a camera that he was livestreaming what he was doing,”

The suspect is an 18-year-old White male, he said.

He shot four people in the parking lot, Gramaglia said, three of whom died.

The suspect went inside the store, where a security guard and former Buffalo police officer engaged him.

“Because he had heavily armored plating on, the bullet had no round. The suspect engaged our retired officer and he was shot and deceased at the scene. He continued to work his way through the store,” Gramaglia said.

He made his way back to the front of the store, where patrol officers were able to talk him into dropping his gun after he “put the gun to his own neck.”

Police arrested the suspect and transported him to Buffalo Police Headquarters.

Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said 10 people are dead after a shooting at Tops supermarket in the city.

A total of 13 people were shot, he said. Four of those were store employees, including a security guard.

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said the alleged shooter traveled “hours” from outside the city to carry out the shooting at a Tops supermarket.

“The shooter was not from this community. In fact, the shooter traveled hours from outside this community to perpetrate this crime on the people of Buffalo,” he said.

He said it’s a day of “great pain” for the city.

“We are hurting and we are seething right now as a community. The depth of pain that families are feeling and that all of us are feeling right now cannot even be explained. Some of us had the opportunity to provide comfort to some of the families but needless to say, there is no comfort at this time. We are pleased that a shooter is in custody. The person responsible for the tragic events of today is in custody,” he said.

“This is the worst nightmare that any community can face and we are hurting and we are seething right now as a community,” Brown said. “The depth of pain that families are feeling and that all of us are feeling right now cannot even be explained.”

The mayor said he worked hard to bring this supermarket chain to the community, adding that it is one that he and his family patronize from time to time.

President Biden has been briefed on the deadly mass shooting at the Tops grocery store in Buffalo, New York, by Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, the White House said Saturday.

“The President has been briefed by his Homeland Security Advisor on the horrific shooting in Buffalo, NY this afternoon,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

A federal law enforcement official told CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz that at least eight people are dead following the Saturday shooting, marking the latest mass shooting in the US amid an ongoing national crisis of gun violence. There was also a series of shootings Friday night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.