OCEAN COUNTY – Local authorities are taking necessary precautions after Lakewood and Toms River were mentioned in a 180-page document reportedly published by the 18-year-old New Yorker accused of a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York.
Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy said that the two towns and the Orthodox Jewish community were named in the document posted before Saturday’s shooting at a Buffalo supermarket.
The suspected gunman Payton Gendron had targeted Tops Friendly Market. The incident resulted in 13 people being shot, 10 fatally. Authorities believe the attack was racially motivated.
In the document, Gendron, who is white, is identified as the gunman and details the plan of the shooting, NBC news reported. In addition, the manifesto repeatedly cited the “great replacement” conspiracy theory frequently pushed by white supremacists believing that non-whites will eventually “replace” white people, officials said. Most of the victims were black.
At this time, New York authorities said they are still investigating the 180-page manifesto.
According to the Lakewood Scoop, a page from the document specifically references Orthodox Jewish residents of Lakewood and Toms River.
Lakewood Mayor Raymond Coles said how security has now been employed at many schools, synagogues and churches throughout the township, the Asbury Park Press reported.
The Toms River Police Department published a statement saying that they are taking the appropriate measures in response to any attacks.
“In light of this weekend’s tragedy in Buffalo, we’d like to assure our community that the TRPD understands your concerns and will take a measured response to any threat level presented, and identical to that of previous school shootings, church shootings, mall shootings or attacks to any particular group nationwide. If the threat level to our residents were to increase, security measures would naturally be increased.”
