'He told us he'll keep fighting': Shooting victims' families moved by Biden's empathy

They were there to meet the president.

Minutes after President Biden and first lady Jill Biden stopped by the crime scene and laid a bouquet of flowers at a growing memorial, their motorcade arrived at the community center to meet privately the families of the victims.

The meetings took place in rooms normally used for happier occasions – an afterschool program room, a dining area with a kitchen. But on Tuesday, the windows on the doors were covered with brown paper and a sign on the wall read "Family rooms." Bottles of water, Girl Scout cookies, boxes of tissue and hand sanitizer were laid out.

Inside the rooms and away from the dignitaries and media awaiting Biden in the auditorium, the president met one on one with the mourners, offering condolences and promising changes to ensure no more families will have to endure such loss. The private gatherings came almost 10 years after President Barack Obama met similarly with the grieving families of the victims of the mass shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.

On Tuesday, Biden, who often references his grief over his personal tragedies, spoke with each of the family members, said Dee Davis, Chaney's sister-in-law.

"He made people smile, he made us feel at ease," said  Davis. "He made us feel that somebody is going to try to do something."

Celestine Chaney, 65, went to Tops on Saturday afternoon with her older sister JoAnn Daniels to get some shrimp for her husband, Raymond, and some strawberries for strawberry shortcake. Daniels was able to escape, but Chaney did not.

At the private meeting, Biden offered hugs and put his arms around the mourners, Chaney's family said. He posed for photos, even taking their phones to snap selfies with them.

He also said he would do everything he could to prevent another tragedy.

Wayne Jones Jr., Chaney's grandson, left encouraged because he believes Biden will pass legislation to ban assault weapons.

"He will try to pass that bill again," he said. "He told us he'll keep fighting."

Danielle Simpson, Jones' girlfriend, said Biden's presence brought a little light to the room.

"He had everybody laughing," she said. "He took selfies with them. It was very nice, like a weight was lifted."

But he also offered comfort. One of Chaney's grandchildren went up to the president and asked him: "Can you keep us safe?"

Davis said it meant a great deal to know that the president of the United States traveled to Buffalo to meet with hers and the other families, but her grief was still raw.

"I'm tired of racism – it's hate. It's just hate," she said.

She's haunted by the videos that circulated on social media that appear to show the killer shooting Chaney.

"I never thought I'd lose a family member to murder," she said.

Lynda Elliott, 15, the niece of victim Andre Mackniel, attended the president's visit with her nephew, Andre Jr., Mackniel's 3-year-old son.

Mackniel, 53, of Auburn, had gone to Tops on Saturday to buy a birthday cake for his son when the shooting occurred.

Andre Jr. is too young to understand what happened, his family said, but he was excited to meet the president, who hugged him and handed him a coin. Elliott said Andre Jr. was so protective of the coin Biden gave him that he even passed up hugs out of fear someone would take it away. Asked if the gesture and the president's visit meant something, Elliott said, "It did, to all of us."

Vyonne Mackniel, the brother of the victim, was less impressed. "He was there. He was human," he said. He was skeptical that Biden would be able to do anything about ending racism by himself. "We've got to do it together," he said.

"It takes all of us," said Pastor Tim Newkirk of GYC Ministries, who was consoling the Mackniel family. Newkirk was one of the first to arrive at the Tops Markets after the shooting, leading a prayer circle with employees on Riley Street behind the supermarket.

The Bidens met with the family members for about an hour and 25 minutes before a line of politicians offered their remarks and the president came to the podium to offer comfort to all of Buffalo.

"We’ve come here to grieve with you," Biden said. "It’s not the same, but we know a little bit of what it’s like to lose a piece of your soul when you lose a son, a daughter, a husband, a wife, a mother, a father. The feeling of having that – as I said to some of you when we talked privately: You feel like there’s a black hole in your chest you’re being sucked into and you’re suffocating, unable to – unable to breathe. That’s what it felt like, at least to us. And I’m sure some version of that – it feels that way to you. The anger. The pain. The depth of a loss that’s so profound.

"You know, we know it’s hard to believe, and you’re probably not going to believe it, but I can tell you now from our personal experience and many others who we’ve met: The day is going to come – it will come – when your loved one brings a smile as you remember him or her ... it’s going to bring a smile to your lip before it brings a tear to your eye. It takes a while for that to happen. It takes a while. It might take more than a season, but our prayer for you is that time comes sooner or later, but I promise you it will come.

"As a nation, I say to the families: We remember them," he said before naming each victim and sharing a story about each of the lives lost.

News Staff Reporter Ben Tsujimoto contributed to this report.