Katherine 'Kat' Massey: 'We lost a powerful voice'

She was an ardent advocate for civil rights and education and did everything she could to lift up Buffalo's Black community, said former Erie County Legislator Betty Jean Grant, who has been friends with Massey for more than 20 years.

Complete coverage: 10 killed, 3 wounded in mass shooting at Buffalo supermarket

"We lost a voice yesterday. We lost a powerful, powerful voice," Grant told The Buffalo News on Sunday.

Massey, 72, was among the 10 people slain by an 18-year-old gunman who authorities said was motivated by racial hatred when he drove 3 hours from Conklin, N.Y., to the Tops supermarket on Jefferson Avenue, and began systematically gunning down shoppers and workers.

Massey had gone to Tops to do some grocery shopping. Her sister, Barbara Massey, said their brother was supposed to pick her up when she was done.

Saturday afternoon, Barbara Massey spent hours dialing her phone while standing outside the grocery store, trying to get answers. She was holding out hope.

But a little after 8 p.m., she responded to a Buffalo News reporter's text.

"He killed my sister," Barbara Massey wrote.

A little later, she described her sister: "She was a beautiful soul."

Massey was a member of "We Are Women Warriors," which Grant founded. Grant said she, Massey and Eva Doyle were the "three musketeers" of Women Warriors.

"She was unapologetic about making sure our community was not ignored," Grant said.

Kat Massey wrote for both the Buffalo Challenger and Buffalo Criterion and was a frequent letter writer to The News.

A year ago, she penned a letter in support of more federal regulation of firearms, in which she talked about both urban street violence and mass shootings.

"There needs to be extensive federal action/legislation to address all aspects of the issue," she wrote. "Current pursued remedies mainly inspired by mass killings – namely, universal background checks and banning assault weapons – essentially exclude the sources of our city’s gun problems. Illegal handguns, via out of state gun trafficking, are the primary culprits."

Grant was heartbroken to hear of her friend's death. She knows two of the other victims who died and one of the survivors, she said.

"Any life has worth and loss of any life is really bad for the family and the community and the City of Buffalo," Grant said. "But to lose such a fighter, someone who was so eloquent ... to lose that voice."

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