Fact check: Fabricated CBS News tweet misleads on Buffalo shooting – USA TODAY

Weeks after the mass shooting at a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket, online posts continue to spread false narratives about the mass shooting.
A lone gunman was arrested after the mass shooting, but a May 16 Facebook post claims the suspect did not act alone. In that Facebook post – which includes a supposed screenshot of a tweet from a CBS news outlet in New Zealand –additional suspects and victims are identified. The supposed tweet includes photos and other details.
“Two individuals arrested in connection with the #Buffalo mass shooting: Dimitri Potapoff (top) and Richard McWingo (bottom), were arrested by Buffalo law enforcement on Sunday,” reads the purported CBS News tweet. “They allegedly provided weapons, ammunition, and body armor for the shooter.”
“Another victim of the #Buffalo mass shooting has been identified as Bernie Gores, aged 35,” reads the second tweet.
The post was shared close to 200 times in less than a week. However, the tweet is not real.
The Twitter account is digitally fabricated and not affiliated with CBS News. Police have arrested the Buffalo shooting suspect, and no additional victims were identified.
Fact check: Image shows misidentified local news reporter at Buffalo shooting, not actor
USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the claim for comment.
While the CBS New Zealand Twitter account, @CBSNewNZ, uses the same logo as CBS News, the Twitter account is fake.
The tweet never appeared on a legitimate CBS News Twitter account, and does not reflect any CBS news reports published around the time of the post.
CBS News has bureaus across the globe, but only movies and TV shows are available for streaming in New Zealand.
Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks
The unverified account was created in March and had less than 10 followers as of May 17, according to PolitiFact. Twitter has suspended the account.
Authorities identified Payton S. Gendron, an 18-year-old, as the Buffalo shooting suspect. There is no evidence of additional suspects linked to the massacre.
Ten people were killed but “Bernie Gores” was not among them. USA TODAY previously reported on Bernie Gores, a fictional identity used in false claims.
The photo of the additional alleged shooter, who is identified as “Dimitri Potapoff” in the post, is actually a picture of Kyle Myers, a man with a history of recording himself shooting guns. Myers’ mug shot featured in the post is from his arrest in 2017, according to the Athens Banner-Herald.
The second person in the tweet, Richard McWingo, is not an actual person. The photos show YouTuber Jordie Jordan, who is known as “WingsofRedemption” online. Jordan’s images have previously been debunked in connection with the fictional persona ”Bernie Gores.”
Based on our research, we rate ALTERED an image purporting to show that CBS News tweeted information about new arrests in the Buffalo shooting and an additional victim. The men in the tweet are YouTubers who were not involved in the Buffalo shooting.
Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.
Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

No Result