Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low 56F. Winds light and variable..

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low 56F. Winds light and variable.

Associated Press Investigators work Monday at the scene of a shooting at a supermarket a dat earlier in Buffalo.

Associated Press Investigators work Monday at the scene of a shooting at a supermarket a dat earlier in Buffalo.

ALBANY — The weekend massacre of 10 people at a Buffalo supermarket prompted GOP legislative leaders to call Monday for the reinstatement of New York's death penalty law for murders fueled by racism and hatred.

Describing the killings as being of "unforgivable magnitude," Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt, R-Niagara County, said: "We must bring capital punishment back to our state today, and deliver the only justice that is appropriate in this case."

Ten Black people were shot to death Saturday at a Tops store, including a retired Buffalo police officer, The man suspected of methodically carrying out the crime, Payton Gendron, 18, of the Broome County town of Conklin, was apprehended at the store and linked to the killings, with authorities saying he deliberately targeted black people because of racial hatred.

In 1995, then-Gov. George Pataki signed legislation reinstating New York's death penalty law. But nine years later, the state Court of Appeals ruled the statute was unconstitutional. Since then, interest in reviving capital punishment has largely faded in the Democratic-dominated state Legislature.

But even without a state death penalty statute, the U.S. Justice Department would have the option of fashioning its own prosecution of Gendron, should he be deemed mentally fit to stand trial. Approximately 45 persons are now on death row in federal prison.

They include Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, resulting in the killings of three people and injuries to more than 200 others, and Dylann Roof, found guilty in the killings of nine people at a South Carolina church in 2015. Roof is the nation's first person to be sentenced to death for a hate crime.

One of significant questions in the investigation relates to how Gendron managed to buy a semi-automatic Bushmaster XM-15 rifle at Vintage Firearms in Endicott two months ago when one year earlier he was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation in connection with an incident at the high school he attended in Broome County.

In 2019, New York enacted a "red flag" law designed to alert authorities when a person with a mental health problem attempts to purchase a firearm.

"I'm investigating that right now," Gov. Kathy Hochul told a television interviewer Monday.

While New York law bans semi-automatic guns equipped with high-capacity magazines, Gendron managed to obtain such a magazine, possibly from a store in another state, Hochul said. She signaled her support for tighter gun-control laws nationally.

Gendron allegedly fired 50 rounds in the attack while video-streaming the massacre on the controversial social media platform Twitch.

Hochul, after expressing support for tighter gun-control measures, faced criticism from Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-Long Island, now competing for the Democratic nomination for governor in the June 28 primary election.

"As a member of Congress, Kathy Hochul was endorsed by the NRA (National Rifle Association) and stood in the way of the meaningful gun safety laws she is now calling on Congress to enact," Suozzi said. "That is not leadership; it is hypocritical and it does nothing to protect New Yorkers from this kind of tragedy happening again.”

Hochul's campaign responded by emphasizing her support for gun violence prevention initiatives and her work to establish a new interstate task force on illegal guns.

“We are doing everything we can to ensure that our laws are tight, they're ironclad, to ensure that our law enforcement have the resources they need,” Hochul said in Buffalo following the killings.

In a visit to the site of the massacre Monday, U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-Long Island, a GOP candidate for governor, called for the reinstatement of a death penalty law in New York for the killings of police officers and other first responders.

Tom King, the leader of the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, said the Buffalo massacre underscores the need to "enforce laws they already have in New York," specifically citing the red flag law restricting the ability of people with mental health episodes from accessing firearms.

Shocking crimes such as the Buffalo massacre, involving allegations that the culprit is a white supremacist who deliberately targeting African-Americans, have the potential to influence the political dialogue as elections approach, said Harvey Schantz, a political science professor at the State University at Plattsburgh.

"In every election, there's an argument over what the fight is about," Schantz said. "Most of the time, it's about the economy. And to the degree that the question is decided on the economy and Biden's job performance, it helps the Republicans. But the Democrats can change the subject to what are called cultural issues, such as gun control and abortion, and that might stir up the political environment and give the Democrats more opportunity."

Biden is scheduled to visit Buffalo on Tuesday to visit relatives of the victims of the massacre and join local officials in condemning hate-fueled gun violence.

Biden, over the years, has voiced his personal opposition to capital punishment but has not called for a cessation of executions carried out by the federal penal system.

The massacre has sparked calls in Albany for measures imposing greater accountability on social media companies that allow hate speech on their platform.

Two nights before the killings, a manifesto suspected of having been written by Gendron was posted on the internet. The document described motives for the attack that was apparently being planned, authorities said.

NBC News reported the document indicated that Buffalo was targeted because it had the largest number of Black residents in the upstate region.

Of the 13 people hit by the gunfire, 11 were Black residents of the Buffalo area. A retired police officer employed as a Tops security worker, Aaron Salter Jr., was among those killed in the rampage.

Gendron was being held without bail Monday night at Erie County Jail, segregated away from other prisoners. He has been charged with first-degree murder and is facing a hearing Thursday, according to Erie County District Attorney John Flynn.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.

Sign up now to get our FREE breaking news coverage delivered right to your inbox.

First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.