An AP all-formats team delivered fast, accurate breaking coverage of Saturday’s racist mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket, then turned to stories of the victims and a community in mourning.
The initial scanner chatter was vague, but when ever-vigilant federal law enforcement reporter Mike Balsamo saw it, he raised an immediate alarm with colleagues covering New York: a possible active shooter at a Buffalo supermarket. Hartford, Connecticut, newsperson Dave Collins — working a breaking news shift covering two states — wasted no time, immediately dispatching Buffalo reporter Carolyn Thompson to the scene, where she was soon joined by Buffalo sports writer John Wawrow, jumping in from vacation. Thompson was quick with early video from the scene as freelance photographer Joshua Bessex moved photos.
In the chaotic first hours after the shooting, AP avoided the erroneous reporting of other outlets, including false reports that the gunman was dead. East Desk editor Mallika Sen filed a rapid-fire stream of updates while Balsamo and fellow Justice Department reporter Eric Tucker quickly worked their networks of law enforcement sources to confirm the scope of the carnage: 10 people were dead and three wounded at the hands of a white gunman wearing body armor, who had livestreamed the attack. Further, authorities suspected the shooter was driven by racism, targeting predominantly Black shoppers and workers.
AP had the facts out ahead of the official news conference, where authorities confirmed that the gunman had been motivated by racial hatred.
Bystanders gather under an umbrella as rain falls after a mass shooting at a Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, N.Y., May 14, 2022.
AP Photo / Joshua Bessex
A police officer speaks to bystanders while investigating a mass shooting at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., May 14, 2022.
AP Photo / Joshua Bessex
A chaplain with the Buffalo Police Department walks in the parking lot after a mass shooting at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., May 14, 2022.
AP Photo / Joshua Bessex
A woman waits outside a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., May 14, 2022, after a mass shooting that killed 10 people and wounded three.
AP Photo / Joshua Bessex
A woman watches as police investigate a mass shooting at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., May 14, 2022.
AP Photo / Joshua Bessex
People gather outside a Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, N.Y., May 15, 2022, one day after a mass shooting. Police say an 18-year-old white man targeted predominantly Black shoppers and employees.
AP Photo / Matt Rourke
People hold hands as they pray outside a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., May 15, 2022, one day after a mass shooting.
AP Photo / Matt Rourke
Two days after a mass shooting at a Tops supermarket, an investigator works at the scene in Buffalo, N.Y., May 16, 2022.
AP Photo / Matt Rourke
One day after a mass shooting at an area supermarket, children walk hand-in-hand, May 15, 2022, near the scene of the shooting in Buffalo, N.Y.
AP Photo / Matt Rourke
JoAnn Daniels, front left, accompanied by Kayla and Donell Jones, front right, and other family members, speaks in Buffalo, N.Y., May 16, 2022, during an interview with the AP about her sister, Celestine Chaney, who was killed in a racially motivated mass shooting two days earlier at an area Tops supermarket.
AP Photo / Matt Rourke
The team on the ground in Buffalo was joined by New York City video journalist Robert Bumsted and Philadelphia photographer Matt Rourke. Together, the all-formats team produced moving stories of the victims and a grieving community, while revealing key details on the investigation of the shooter.
The coverage was AP’s top-performing story of the day, by far, widely used and credited by AP customers and drawing more than 1 million pageviews on AP News.