Buffalo mass shooter sentenced to life in prison

The gunman who pleaded guilty to a racist rampage at a supermarket in Buffalo was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Wednesday — after a morning of tearful and angry testimony from families whose lives were upended by the shooting.

Payton Gendron, a resident of Conklin, New York, pleaded guilty to a litany of state charges last November including murder and domestic terrorism motivated by hate. Ten people died in the shooting. Of the 13 people shot, 11 were Black.

“I watched you kill my mom. I watched you on the internet. I watched you shoot her once, reload and shoot her again,” said Wayne Jones, whose 65-year-old mother Celestine Chaney was killed in the shooting. “I just want you to remember that name and what you did.”

Gendron received life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for a host of counts read aloud by the judge on Wednesday morning, including an act of domestic terrorism motivated by hate and murder charges for each person killed in the May 2022 shooting.

Gendron is believed to be the author behind a document filled with racist conspiracy theories that motivated him to open fire on a Tops Supermarket in Buffalo, which was located in a predominantly Black neighborhood more than 200 miles from his home.

The gunman livestreamed the massacre. Gendron is also facing federal hate crime charges.

“This indictment speaks to the 13 victims and their families that lost the most. But they are not the only victims,” said Judge Susan Eagan in her remarks before delivering the sentence. “There are thousands that have been traumatized directly and vicariously by this defendant's actions.”

The emotionally raw court hearing began with testimonies from family members whose loved ones were killed in the shooting or barely survived.

“I’m not going to be nice,” said Barbara Massey, whose 72-year-old sister Katherine “Kat” Massey was among those killed.

“You know what made Kat happy? Us cutting grass that we don’t even own. That made my sister happy. That’s what I was doing when you killed Kat. I was doing her lawn,” she said.

“110 pounds. Seventy-two years old,” she continued.

“Kat didn’t hurt anybody. None of them families did. You going to come to us … and decide you don’t like Black people. Man, you don’t know a damn thing about Black people! We’re human,” Massey, who was overcome with emotion, said to Gendron.

A commotion broke out in the court as a person from the audience rushed toward Gendron, but Gendron was quickly ushered out of the courtroom. The judge promptly called a brief recess.

The gunman was allowed to speak briefly later on in the hearing. “I did a terrible thing that day. I shot and killed people because they were Black. Looking back now, I can’t believe I actually did it,” Gendron said in a prepared statement.

His remarks were interrupted by shouts from the audience, who said that he did not feel remorse for what he did.

This story has been updated with comment from Barbara Massey.