BUFFALO, N.Y. — June 14 marks one month since the mass shooting at the Tops on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo.
When the racially-motivated attack was over, 10 people were killed and three others were injured.
Since then, the grieving community has rallied to battle back against hatred. It is doing so with free mental health counseling, food drives, protests for change and memorials to remember the lives that ended so abruptly on that Saturday afternoon.
People will gather outside the store on Tuesday to honor the victims. Buffalo’s East Side will not let their faces be forgotten.
Aaron Salter, Andre Mackniel, Celestine Chaney, Geraldine Talley, Heyward Patterson, Katherine Massey, Margus Morrison, Pearl Young, Roberta Drury and Ruth Whitfield all lost their lives that day.
In the days that followed, a memorial at the site of the shooting grew to honor the victims, spreading to trees and poles across the street as the community tried to heal a month after the tragedy.
Many members of the community spoke out over the weekend at a special town hall conversation. That airs Tuesday at 8 p.m. on Spectrum News 1. It will address the topics of race, white supremacy, gun violence and more.
People on the East Side continue to walk past the memorial and see the neighbors and friends taken from them.
“My sons get to see me. Their children don’t get to see them,” said Jeanne Legall of Buffalo. “So, I’m sorry for crying. You get to be up and down, up and down. Some days you don’t have tears, you just keep busy. Other days, the reality sets in and you’re like, ‘did this really happen? And why?'”
A remembrance ceremony will be held at the memorial for the victims on Tuesday at 2 p.m.
