Buffalo supermarket shooters pleads guilty to murder and terrorism charges 

The man who killed 10 Black shoppers at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket in May pleaded guilty on Monday to murder and hate-motivated terrorism charges.

Payton Gendron, 19, who entered a supermarket with a semiautomatic rifle and carried out a racially-motivated assault, pleaded guilty to all of the serious charges against him, including murder, murder as a hate crime, and hate-motivated domestic terrorism. The last charge guarantees a sentence of life in prison without parole. 

Gendron answered “yes” when Judge Susan Eagan’s questioned him on whether he had killed the victims due to their race. 

"It was established beyond a reasonable doubt that he had this gruesome motive, that in just over two minutes he murdered as many African Americans as he could," Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said at a press conference after the plea. "Justice has been done today."

On May 14, Gendron shot four people who were outside of the store with a semi-automatic, assault-style weapon. Then, he entered the supermarket wearing body armor, exchanged fire with a security officer, and shot nine more individuals. 

During the attack, the suspect fired at least 60 bullets, according to the complaint. Eleven of the victims were Black and two were White. They ranged in age from 32 to 86. 

"Gendron's motive for the mass shooting was to prevent Black people from replacing white people and eliminating the white race and to inspire others to commit similar attacks," read a criminal complaint filed by prosecutors. 

Many of the family members of the victims sat at the courthouse during the 45-minute proceeding at the Erie County Court.

“His voice made me feel sick, but it showed me I was right,” said Zaneta Everhart, whose 20-year-old son was shot in the neck but survived. “This country has a problem. This country is inherently violent. It is racist. And his voice showed that to me.”

Gendron pleaded not guilty to a separate federal hate crime charge, which could result in a death sentence if he is convicted.