Woman describes escape as gunman opens fire on grocery aisles

207
3
Woman describes escape as gunman opens fire on grocery aisles

Jennifer Tookes, of Buffalo, had been in Tops Friendly Market shopping with a cousin on separate aisles for about two minutes when she heard gunshots coming from the front of the store.

She said he stopped, shot again. Stopped and started shooting again. The shooting was coming from the front of the store and as I ran it was getting closer, she said, recounting her escape. You could hear him coming toward the back of the store. I was just praying and trying to get out. When it was over, 10 people were dead and three were wounded. A white 18-year-old who wore tactical gear and carried an assault weapon was arrested at the scene. He was arraigned Saturday evening on a first-degree murder charge and jailed without bond.

A document that claims to have been written by the suspect was posted to Google Docs on Thursday night and cites a false theory that is often pushed by white supremacists. A senior law enforcement official said authorities were working to verify the document's authenticity.

Of the 13 people shot, 11 are black and two are white, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said.

She ran through two doors and reached the outside after Tookes got to the Tops deli. She went to her car to call her cousin.

I saw three bodies lying outside the parking lot. One was right by the door. One man was in his car. She later learned that her cousin had hidden in the store's freezer until the gunfire stopped.

I'll have this in my head for the rest of my life, Tookes said. I don't know if I'll ever be able to go into a grocery store or a store. Shonnell Harris, store operation manager, told the Buffalo News she fell several times as she ran through the store to get away from the gunfire. She said the shooter was a white man, who looked like he was in the Army, in fatigues and wearing a helmet. She estimated she heard more than 70 shots.

Katherine Crofton, a retired firefighter and medic, told the News agency she saw the shooting from her porch.

I turned around and saw him shoot this woman, Crofton said. She was just going into the store. He shot another woman. She was putting groceries into her car. I got down because I did not know if he was going to shoot me. Braedyn Kephart and Shane Hill, both 20, told the Associated Press that they had pulled into the parking lot just as the shooter was coming out of the store. They also described a white male in his late teens or early 20s in camouflage, wearing a black helmet and carrying a long gun.

He was standing there with the gun on his chin. We were like, What the hell is going on? Why does the kid have a gun on his face? Kephart said something. The man fell to his knees. He ripped off his helmet, dropped his gun, and was tackled by the police.