On Monday, Dr. Angie Settle, chief executive officer of West Virginia Health Right in Charleston, issued the following statement after the shooting in Buffalo, New York.
“West Virginia Health Right, our board and staff, stands with our African American friends and neighbors in profound sadness as a result of the hate crime in Buffalo, New York. We must all recognize racism as the evil it is and call it by name and stand against it. Silence is not an option. We must end racism once and for all.”
Authorities said Sunday that they were investigating the attack on predominantly Black shoppers and workers at the Tops Friendly Market as a potential federal hate crime or act of domestic terrorism.
Payton Gendron, 18, traveled about 200 miles (320 kilometers) from his home in Conklin, New York, to Buffalo to commit the attack, police said.