The City Grill mass shooting was not a random, scattershot spray of gunfire into a crowd of unknown people, investigators believe.

Instead, the gunman targeted at least two -- and maybe more -- of the eight victims, they believe.

Just before or after the gunman fatally shot one of the victims, witnesses claim they heard the shooter say something to that person.

"I told you I'd fix this [crap]," the gunman said, according to one version that has been relayed to police.

Other sources have said the shooter yelled, "I told you I'd get you bitches."

Especially chilling was what authorities described as the killing of Danyell L. Mackin Jr., the former Buffalo man celebrating his first wedding anniversary.

After he was shot once, Mackin was lying on the ground, struggling to get up, when the gunman approached him and deliberately shot him again, this time in the upper back or neck -- execution-style, several law enforcement sources said.

Mackin tried to get up a second time but quickly collapsed, mortally wounded, investigators believe.

Police have identified Riccardo M. McCray, a known gang member, as the gunman and charged him with four counts of second-degree murder in connection with the Aug. 14 massacre outside the popular downtown restaurant.

Early in the investigation, homicide detectives had strong indications that known gang members were involved and that the gunman had targeted specific people.

"There were a lot of law-abiding people at this party, but it was also a 'who's who' of Buffalo gangsters," one law enforcement source said Wednesday.

Some of those involved in the dispute were associates of a city drug gang known as the "Schuele Street Gang," and others were affiliated with the rival "East Ferry Gang." Authorities have said that they have video from a Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority surveillance camera at the Metro Rail station across Main Street from the shooting scene.

Investigators claim that the camera depicts, in chilling detail, the gunman firing shots at people fleeing from him in horror.

But police are not saying how clear an image they have of the shooter on the video footage.

Investigators said they have less video evidence of the melee that preceded the shooting. That skirmish apparently began with heated words between supporters of the two rival gangs, and someone was sprayed with champagne. That led to a fistfight on the east side of Main Street.

Then the crowd moved west, back toward the City Grill, as someone began shooting.

Police still are trying to determine exactly what sparked the bloodshed. "It was a perfect storm of drunken gangsters at a party, people who were very hot-tempered and already had hard feelings toward each other because of things that have happened on the streets," one law enforcement source said. "Exactly what touched it off, we don't know."

Another source described it as a "bar fight," complete with different versions of who said what to whom.

Within two days of the quadruple homicide, Buffalo police officers on routine patrol were armed with names, mug shots, addresses and birth dates of three young men wanted for questioning in the shootings. That list later was circulated with state police, the FBI and other agencies.

One of the three was McCray, 23, identified by police as a member of the East Ferry group. The other two wanted for questioning had been arrested along with McCray on weapons and drug charges in April. That case is currently pending before a grand jury.

Shortly after the Aug. 14 shootings, information from a combination of witnesses and tipsters led Buffalo police to suspect that McCray was the shooter. Another of the three men sought for questioning early last week was Steven "Red" Talley, who was arrested last Thursday on unrelated charges. He has not been charged in connection with the City Grill shootings.

The third person, besides McCray and Talley, listed on that police bulletin was brought in for questioning Aug. 17, three days after the shooting. He apparently was not charged.

Investigators have said they have strong evidence that McCray, Talley and the third person were together inside City Grill before the shooting and may have been together afterwards.

The 12-day investigation into the killing of four people and wounding of four others has been an intense probe that left investigators unusually tight-lipped, especially after the arrest and eventual release of a suspect on the day of the killings.

Within hours of the shootings, police arrested Keith D. Johnson, 25, and charged him with four counts of murder. By the next morning, though, the charges were dismissed.

Prosecutors and police aren't saying how much evidence they have and how strong their case will be against McCray and anyone else who could be charged in the case.

Even after McCray's arrest, the investigation no doubt will continue.

Police continue to seek witnesses to strengthen their case against McCray and see if anyone else is culpable. Investigators believe that only one shooter gunned down all the victims.

Detectives also want to answer several other questions:

* Were the shootings related, either directly or indirectly, to any of the recent gang-related homicides in the city?

* Did one of the victims accidentally shoot himself, while fleeing from the shooter, as police have been told? Investigators are awaiting ballistics test results and are examining other physical evidence to answer that question.

* Why did the shooter target certain victims, including Mackin, and how many did he target?

* And was an off-duty city cop working security inside the bar-restaurant when shots rang out? Police investigators are trying to determine the accuracy of claims that the off-duty officer was on injured-on-duty status.

As they seek those answers, authorities still are pleading for witnesses to come forward.

"I hope that citizens who have information, even if it's only partial information -- something they saw in the bar or on the Metro [Rail] line -- that they would come forward with that information," Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III said.

A suspect is in custody, charged with the murders, and he's highly unlikely to be released on bail, Sedita suggested.

"There is no reason people should fear for their safety anymore," the district attorney added.

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* Video: Evening news conference/surrender details -- Chief of detectives discusses surrender -- News editor on CNN about Sunday story

* Audio: Full evening news conference -- Community activist Darnell Jackson on surrender -- Jackson on why individual chose him -- Channel 4 GM Chris Musial

* BuffaloNews.com Live: Review Wednesday night's news conference at police headquarters

gwarner@buffnews.com; dherbeck@buffnews.comnull