Accused Buffalo, N.Y., shooter indicted on murder, terror charges

June 1 (UPI) -- An Erie County, N.Y., grand jury on Wednesday indicted an 18-year-old on 25 counts linked to a racially motivated grocery store shooting that killed 10 people.

Payton Gendron faces a single count of first-degree domestic act of terrorism motivated by hate, 10 counts of first-degree murder, 10 counts of second-degree murder as a hate crime, three counts of attempted second-degree murder as a hate crime and a single count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, The Buffalo News reported.

He's due in court Thursday for an arraignment on the charges, WIVB-TV in Buffalo reported.

Gendron is accused of opening fire at a Tops grocery store in Buffalo, N.Y., on May 14, killing 10 people -- all Black -- and injuring three. Authorities said the shooting was racially motivated and that Gendron had posted a manifesto online that allegedly made numerous racist and anti-immigration remarks.

The News said he may also face federal charges.

The domestic terror charge Gendron faces came into effect in November 2020 as part of the Josef Neumann Hate Crimes Domestic Terrorism Act passed by the New York Legislature. It was named after a man killed in an attack on a Hanukkah celebration at a Monsey, N.Y., rabbi's home in December 2019.