BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Ten people were killed Saturday and three others were injured in an act of white supremacist terrorism committed at Tops Market on Jefferson Avenue on Buffalo’s East Side.
News 4 is working to learn more about the victims of the attack. One was a retired police officer. One was a deacon. Another was the mother of a fire commissioner. All were taken too soon.
All of the victims have now been identified. This page will continue to be updated as new information comes in.
Aaron Salter
Age: 55
Residence: Lockport
Salter was a retired Buffalo police officer who was working at Tops as a security guard. Officials said he shot the gunman in the chest, but the bullet had no effect because the shooter was wearing tactical body armor.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia hailed Salter as “a hero in our eyes.”
“I had the pleasure of knowing him, great guy, well respected, well-liked. This is just horrific. It’s tragic. I don’t know what other words to describe it,” Buffalo Police Benevolent Association President John Evans said.
“I can’t say enough about our retired follow colleague Aaron Salter who confronted this individual to save the lives of others,” said Erie County Sheriff John Garcia.
Ruth Whitfield
Age: 86
Residence: Buffalo
Whitfield was the mother of former Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield. She was remembered as a beloved wife, mother, and grandmother who was the primary caretaker of her husband. She was coming back from visiting her husband at a nursing home when she stopped at Tops.
Her family has retained national civil rights attorney Ben Crump.
Pearl Young
Age: 77
Residence: Buffalo
She was a member of Good Samaritan COGIC for over 50 years. That’s how James Pennington knew her. He described Pearl as someone who enjoyed being happy and enjoyed making other people happy.
“She was just a family person,” Pennington said. “It was impossible to have a bad day around her.
“She was the best man. She was like truly the best,” he added. “So I would just hope that people celebrate her.”
Celestine Chaney
Age: 65
Residence: Buffalo
Chaney is a breast cancer survivor, which is prompting her family to ask people to wear pink ribbons in her honor. She shopped twice a month with her only son, Wayne Jones. Jones can’t shake the fact that she died while shopping.
“No matter what’s going on with your parents,” Jones said, “You might be arguing or fighting. Just take the time. You never know when they’re going to be gone.”
Funeral services: The family will receive friends Tuesday, May 24, at 10 a.m. at Elim Christian Fellowship, 70 Chalmers Avenue, Buffalo. Funeral Services to follow at 11 AM.
Roberta A. Drury
Age: 32
Residence: Buffalo
Drury was adopted and lived with family in Buffalo. Her brother said they frequented the Jefferson Avenue Tops.
She was recently helping her brother recover from a bone marrow transplant.
Funeral services: Services will be held in Syracuse on Saturday at Assumption Church.
Heyward Patterson
Age: 67
Residence: Buffalo
Patterson was a deacon at State Tabernacle Church of God in Christ on Glenwood Ave. in Buffalo.
“Loved God. Loved his family. Loved serving the community,” said Leonard Lane, the president of Buffalo F.A.T.H.E.R.S. who worships at the church. “He did it every chance he could get.”
“Fed the homeless at a soup kitchen, gave rides to the grocery store to neighbors who needed help, putting food in the trunk of others when he took his final breath,” President Biden said.
Funeral services: Visitation will take place on Friday, May 20 from 11 a.m. to Noon at 234 Glenwood Ave., Buffalo. A funeral will follow at the same location at Noon.
Margus D. Morrison
Age: 52
Residence: Buffalo
Morrison was a father of three and a bus aide known as “Mr. M.” Family members said he went to the store to buy food for a movie night when he was killed.
Funeral services: The family will receive friends Friday, May 27 at noon at True Bethel Baptist Church, 907 E. Ferry Street, Buffalo. Funeral to follow at 1 p.m.
Andre Mackniel
Age: 53
Residence: Auburn, N.Y.
Mackneil, who Biden says worked at a restaurant, went to Tops to buy his 3-year-old son a birthday cake before the shooting, the President said.
Funeral services: Andre Mackneil’s wake will take place on Friday, May 27 from 11 a.m. to Noon at Antioch Baptist Church (1327 Fillmore Ave., Buffalo). A celebration of life will follow at the same location from Noon to 1:30 p.m.
Note: Officials initially gave the spelling of his last name as “Mackneil” with the I and E switched. It has been corrected.
Geraldine Talley
Age: 62
Residence: Buffalo
President Biden described Talley as an “expert banker known for her warm, gentle personality. A friend to everybody, devoted mother and grandmother.”
Katherine Massey
Age: 72
Residence: Buffalo
President Biden described Massey as “a writer and an advocate who dressed up in costumes in schools, and cut the grass in the park and helped the local elections.” Biden called her “the glue of the family and the community.”
Survivors
Zaire Goodman, 20, of Buffalo. A staffer from U.S. Senator Tim Kennedy’s office, Zeneta Everhart, said her son Zaire was inside the store when the attack took place. He survived, suffering non-life-threatening injuries, and is home resting. Everhart said her son “is truly divinely protected.” He has been released from ECMC.
Jennifer Warrington, 50, of Tonawanda. She has been released from ECMC.
Christopher Braden, 55, of Lackawanna.
News 4 is working to learn more about the members of our community who victims of this attack. If you’d like to share information, photos, or remembrances, please contact us at newsroom@wivb.com.
