Tragedy struck New York on May 14 when an 18-year-old white man at least 10 people shot and killed in the city of Buffalo, police said. The shooter, whose online username is reportedly “jimboboiii,” was taken into custody after livestreaming the whole thing on gaming platform Twitch, the company confirmed Saturday night. The shooter released a 180-page manifesto outlining his racist and anti-Semitic views, which he partially attributes to the controversial online forum 4chan. The document also mentions what appears to be a private Discord chat server where he allegedly detailed his plans in advance.
The shooting happened at a Tops Friendly Market on Jefferson Street, a densely populated suburban area in western New York State. According to local outlet The Buffalo News, a witness said the store was “full” and busy. Jimboboiii, whom Buffalo police identified as Payton Gendron, stopped at the grocery store and immediately shot four people in the parking lot, killing all but one. Gendron then entered the store and shot several people, including a recently retired Buffalo police officer who was the store’s security guard.
According to the Associated PressGendron hails from Conklin, a town about 200 miles southeast of Buffalo. Joseph Gramaglia, the newly nominated Police Commissioner for the City of Buffalo, said in a press conference that Gendron was decked out in heavy armor. He wore “tactical gear, a tactical helmet, and a camera that he used to broadcast what he was doing live.” While many share a Twitch account associated with the shooter’s well-known username, the Amazon-owned company has the Twitch channel called “Jimboboiii”.
Video of the incident has been taken offline, although screenshots and brief clips of the event are still circulating. And while Jimboboiii’s twitch channel was drawn, there is a YouTube channel maybe connected to him that has not been updated for at least three years.
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The lengthy manifesto, which delves deep into the shooter’s supposed mindset and goals, cites 4chan as the source of his radicalization, stating: “There I learned through infographics, shitposts and memes that the white race was dying out, that blacks were disproportionately killing whites, that the average black man takes $700,000 from the taxpayers in his lifetime, and that the Jews and the elite are behind it.” Not only did the manifesto provide step-by-step instructions on what he was up to, but diagrams of it are currently being used in spread on social media. Screenshots of Discord shared on social media, while not verified as legitimate, also purport to show someone with the same username who appears to be digging deep into their plans ahead of filming.
This was announced by a Twitch spokesman my box via email that it is saddened by the news and notes that it has strict e-policies against violence.
“We are devastated to hear of the shooting that took place this afternoon in Buffalo, New York. Our hearts go out to the community affected by this tragedy,” a spokesman said. “Twitch has a zero tolerance policy for violence of any kind and works quickly to respond to any incidents. The user has been banned from our service indefinitely and we are taking all appropriate action, including monitoring any accounts re-broadcasting this content.”
my box has reached out to 4chan and Discord for comment.
Police have described the shooting as a racially motivated hate crime a correspondent from CBS News reported that the Buffalo City Branch of the FBI, the Police Department and the US Department of Justice are investigating this as such.
