Today is Saturday, May 14, 2022. This afternoon the country is reeling from yet another mass shooting that this time claimed the lives of 10 innocent people at a Tops Friendly Markets store in Buffalo, New York. The suspect, 18, was identified as Payton Gendron, and he had the gall to livestream the carnage on social media platform Twitch as if he were participating in some surreal version of a bloody video game. This latest racially motivated mass shooting must be called for what it is: a hate crime arising from a young white, disaffected youth’s vision of the country that was spawned by the purveyors of hate on such far-right news outlets like Fox News, Newsmax, Twitch, and other platforms. This never-ending assault on people’s lives must be condemned by all sides and, God forbid, if someone should call for sensible gun legislation to be adopted now in the wake of such an atrocity. How many mass murders will it take for our cowardly politicians to renounce this gun violence and actually do something to prevent the next mass shooting? Everyone should be infuriated by the continued inaction of our legislators with regard to this burning issue!

This shocking news was covered in an online CNN article by Artemis Moshtaghian entitled “10 people killed in a racially motivated mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket, police say. The 18-year-old suspect is in custody.” Law enforcement officials claimed that the raging perpetrator was wearing tactical gear and live-streamed the attack; the question remains, “Who the hell was he livestreaming this bloodbath to?” Who would want to watch this carnage being livestreamed in real time? Did he have numerous supporters of any kind? The answers to these questions are really unthinkable. This is a sign of our sick times that a suspect like this would even consider doing what he did without hiding his heinous actions! Everything is now out in the open for all to see.

Thirteen people were shot in the attack, with 10 succumbing to their wounds. Of those shot, 11 were Black, and two were white, officials stated. This latest high-profile shooting that was clearly motivated by animus toward a minority or marginalized group follows attacks at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas; the Tree of Life Synagogue mass shooting in Pittsburgh; the shootings at Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, South Carolina; and the Pulse nightclub carnage in Orlando, Florida.

The 18-year-old suspect is not even from the Buffalo area, it was determined. He actually lives several hours away, officials related. He traveled hours then from his hometown heavily armed, wearing a helmet as well as tactical gear, and had a camera where he was livestreaming what he was doing.

This evil teenager will be arraigned on charges of murder in the first degree Saturday evening, said Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn. Investigators are reviewing a purported manifesto posted online in connection with this newest mass shooting, two federal law enforcement officials told CNN.

The scenario of today’s Western New York violence began outside in the parking lot where the suspect shot four people there, with three of those individuals dying from their wounds, and one surviving. He then calmly walked into the market where people were just shopping and began shooting at customers. Could you believe the madness of the moment; it’s just unfathomable. Anyone could have been caught in such a setting at any time if a crazed gunman were lurking nearby.

A supermarket security guard, a retired Buffalo Police officer, did fire multiple shots at the suspect, but the killer’s tactical gear protected him from the officer’s shots. The security guard was then fatally shot by the suspect who continued to strode through the supermarket, working toward the front of the store, where he encountered Buffalo police officers.

According to law enforcement officials, the suspect almost got away with taking his own cowardly life, but two Buffalo officers talked him into dropping his gun and then took off some of his tactical gear and surrendered to police. Police then arrested the suspect and transported him to Buffalo police headquarters. The suspect should now live to hear of a life-without-parole sentence and should die in prison after living a long time with his guilt! If he could have a guilty conscience at all!

The livestreaming platform, Twitch, from which the suspect was broadcasting live, is best known for gaming. So maybe this deranged youth thought his shooting was something out of a video game which made it almost seem unreal to him. Who knows his state of mind during his murderous spree at this store in a Buffalo mall?

This shooting now propels this country into 197 mass shootings as of Saturday afternoon, according to the Gun Violence Archive that tracks such figures. The archive and CNN define a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are shot, not including the shooter.

Experts consider easy access to guns a root cause of the bloodshed, and open-carry states lower the barrier for people to own and carry guns in public. How stupid is this then if we have states that have this on the books! “The spike in violence since the summer of 2020 has been general, across cities and states with lax and strict gun laws, with progressive and conservative prosecutors, as well as Republican and Democratic mayors and governors.” This surge knows no favoritism toward any type of gun laws present in any state: it’s an equal-opportunity employer of sorts then!

The victims from the earlier mass shootings were myriad: In August 2019, a man killed 22 people and injured nearly two dozen more at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas; 11 worshippers were killed at the Tree of Life Synagogue in October 2018; in June 2015, white supremacist Dylan Roof gunned down nine African American congregants at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The Pulse nightclub shooting, in June 2016, claimed 49 lives, with 53 people wounded. So far, these mass shootings account for 91 lives lost to hatred. There were many more not mentioned here for the sake of brevity.

So, America, what are we going to do to stop this drumbeat of atrocity after atrocity? Just shake our heads and offer our thoughts and prayers to the grieving families torn asunder by this mid afternoon violence? Or demand that our lawmakers pursue avenues toward adopting sensible gun legislation that might prove effective toward diminishing the arc toward senseless violence? What about our social media companies that seem to practice with impunity, allowing such messages of hate to get onto their platforms for sick individuals to see and respond in the kind of action that today’s 18-year-old suspect took in his diseased state of mind? Could something be done to them? Maybe our educational system needs to adopt a curriculum of teaching diversity to our children at a very early age – before Florida Republican Governor Ron “DeSant-ASS” decides to ban that kind of teaching in the public school system forever!

Given this latest outburst, it’s even more resonant that I can say, “Stay safe and be well.”