Weapon used in Saturday's attack bore white supremacist symbol, names of other gunmen

“It’s a code – it’s a signal to everyone else in these spaces,” said Jon Lewis, a senior fellow at George Washington University's Program on Extremism. “It says, ‘I’m one of you, I’m one of the in-group, I’m doing this for you – remember me and honor me, and do this like I’m doing it.”

The markings are visible in several photographs that appear to have been taken by the accused shooter, Payton Gendron. The Buffalo News obtained them as part of an 83-page document posted to the filesharing site Mediafire on April 29. On Monday, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia twice declined to discuss the images, which The News verified by comparing to license plate records and frames from video of the attack.

Visible on the stock of the gun are the names John Earnest, Phillip Manshaus and Anders Breivik, the last of whom killed more than 70 people in and outside Oslo, Norway, in 2011. Earnest killed one woman and injured three others during a 2019 attack on a San Diego synagogue. Manshaus killed his stepsister and then opened fire in a Norway mosque four months later, in August.

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Three women’s names – Virginia, Leanna and Tamara – can also be seen on the barrel of the rifle.

They appear to reference Virginia Sorenson, Leanna Owen and Tamara Durand, three victims of the November 2021 parade attack in Waukesha, Wisc. According to the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish organization that tracks antisemitism and far-right extremism, that attack – which was perpetrated by Barrell E. Brooks Jr., a Black man – has become a popular touchstone among white supremacists.

A known white supremacist symbol, and two racist messages, are also visible. Previously released images show markings on the gun also depicted a racist slur. 

The News confirmed that a car pictured in the series of photos was the same car driven Saturday by the gunman. The names “Virginia” and “Leanna” can also be seen on the barrel of the gun used in Saturday’s attack in video live-streamed by the attacker.

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Past extremists have directed similar messaging at their peers, Lewis said. The 2019 Christchurch shooter embellished his weapons with some of the same symbols the Buffalo gunman used, for instance. The Buffalo gunman appears to have mimicked both that behavior and copied portions of the Christchurch shooter's writings.

"There's always a very real concern that copycats will happen," Lewis added. "Over the short-term, of course – but over the long-term, as well."