Buffalo mass shooter Payton Gendron sentenced to life in prison, telling families 'I did a terrible thing'

The White man who pled guilty to killing 10 Black people and wounding three others in a hate-fueled mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, last year was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without parole.

Payton Gendron was read his punishment in Erie County Court after pleading guilty in November to charges including murder and domestic terrorism motivated by hate in relation to the May 2022 attack at a Tops Friendly Market. The hearing was interrupted at one point by a man who lunged at Gendron while a family member was reading a victim impact statement, and the shooter himself was seen weeping as relatives of those who lost their loved ones delivered remarks.

"I'm very sorry for the pain. I forced the victims and their families to suffer through. I'm very sorry for stealing the lives of your loved ones," Gendron told the courtroom just prior to learning his fate. "I cannot express how much I regret all the decisions I made leading up to my actions on May 14th.