Buffalo pauses to remember Tops shooting victims

As 2:28 p.m. approached, Mayor Byron W. Brown read the names of the 10 lives lost last May 14, 2022.

Roberta A. Drury: She was about to walk home after buying a few items when the gunman opened fire.

Margus D. Morrison: He was shopping.

Andre Mackniel: He was buying a birthday cake for his 3-year-old son.

Aaron Salter Jr: He was covering a co-worker’s shift.

Geraldine Talley: She was on her way to get cold cuts for sandwiches as her fiance went to get iced tea.

Celestine Chaney: She was shopping with her sister to pick up shrimp, strawberries and shortcake cups.

Heyward Patterson: A jitney driver who gave rides to shoppers, he was standing by his car.

Katherine Massey: She was shopping and was planning on being picked up by her brother.

Pearl Young: She had been dropped off by her sister-in-law after a prayer breakfast.

Ruth Whitfield: After visiting her husband at the nursing home, she wanted to buy some seeds for her garden.

The mayor also named the three Tops workers who were wounded: Zaire Goodman, who was helping a customer; Jennifer Warrington, a pharmacist; and Christopher Braden, the store manager who was in the front of the market.

Brown then called for a moment of silence, and the normally bustling neighborhood grew quiet, except for the sobs of one woman who was overcome.

A firefighter rang a ceremonial bell. Many in the crowd looked up to the sky and noticed an ethereal halo had formed around the sun.

The service ended with a stirring message from Rev. Rachelle Robinson, senior pastor at New Covenant United Church of Christ: “Hate did not win. Hate cannot win. Why? Because love will always win. Love will end hate. Love will always win, and we stand here as Buffalonians to prove it.”

The ceremony at Tops drew an array of people, from Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and actor William Fichtner, to survivors of the massacre and people who just wanted to be a part of the moment.

Zeneta Everhart, Goodman’s mother, was struck by the how much love and support was being shown on this one-year mark.

“It was beautiful,” she said of the ceremony. “Look at this. One year ago, it was a totally different scene. Following the massacre, people were out here just supporting each other, loving on each other.”

Everhart recounted being at the hospital, taking care of her son later that day.

She couldn’t be more grateful that he’s still here.

“This is a beautiful Mother’s Day,” she said.

Goodman, who attended the event, said he was handling the one-year mark well. He said he was among the first to return to the store when it reopened in July.

“Stuff like this is tragic and horrible, but I want people to know I’m alright,” he said.

Grady Lewis, a frequent Tops shopper, talked about having a conversation with the killer the day before the attack, not realizing what he had planned.

“He came back on 5/14, and I had just left out the store 30 seconds before and went across the streets, and that’s when I heard the gunshots,” he said.

Lewis didn’t like the ceremony. He called it a “circus,” and called on politicians to do more to combat racism.

Also there was Jerome Bridges, a Tops worker who pulled fellow workers and customers to safety in a conference room during the attack. He continues to work there.

“That fatal day,” he said, is what he was thinking about Sunday. “That day. The time. The year. The month. And the many victims that passed away.”

Julie Harwell came with her daughter, Londin Thomas. Londin was just 8 last year when she, Harwell and Harwell’s boyfriend, Lamont Thomas, were shopping in the Tops when the gunfire began. Londin and her dad hid in a cooler, and Harwell escaped while crawling through the store.

Londin said she was feeling fine Sunday. Third grade has been hard, she said. But she’s looking forward to dance lessons this summer.

Her mother didn’t know how to feel, she said. Her birthday is May 15. She was asked what she will do.

“Live?” she responded.