911 dispatcher is fired after ‘hanging up on’ Buffalo supermarket employee

Ten people were killed in a mass shooting at a Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, New York on Saturday.

Retired Buffalo Police Department cop Aaron Salter was killed after trying to shoot back at the alleged shooter

Aaron Salter Jr., 75

Salter is a retired Buffalo police officer who worked as a security guard at the supermarket. 

He was fatally shot after confronting accused shooter Payton Gendron inside the store.

Salter’s shots failed to penetrate Gendron’s armored vest, officials confirmed to CBS News, 

After he shot at Gendron, the teen returned fire, killing Salter.  

Ruth Whitfield, 86, the mother of former Buffalo fire commissioner Garnell Whitfield, was also killed in the attack

Ruth Whitfield, 86

Whitfield had just visited her husband in a nursing home and decided to stop at the Tops on her way home to get something to eat, WGRZ reported.

She was also the mother of Former Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield, according to the television station. 

Following the shooting, he said during an interview with the Buffalo News: ‘My mom was the consummate mom. My mother was a mother to the motherless. She was a blessing to all of us. She loved God and taught us to do the same thing,’ he said. 

Katherine Massey, 72, had gone to the supermarket to do her grocery shopping when she was fatally shot

Katherine Massey, 72

She had gone to the supermarket to do her grocery shopping when she was fatally shot. 

Her brother was supposed to pick her up after she finished her errands, but arrived to the grisly aftermath of a mass shooting.

Massey was a civil rights and education advocate.

Former Erie County Legislator Betty Jean Grant, who had known Massey for over 20 years, told The Buffalo News that she ‘did everything she could to lift up Buffalo’s black community.’

Last year, Massey wrote a letter calling for more federal regulation of firearms, citing both urban street violence and mass shootings.

Pearly Young, 77, who fed needy residents in Buffalo’s Central Park neighborhood for 25 years, was also killed

Pearly Young, 77

Young fed needy residents in Buffalo’s Central Park neighborhood for 25 years.

Young, originally from Alabama, moved to New York as a young adult and married a pastor.

She had gone to lunch with her sister-in-law on Saturday and was dropped off at the grocer afterwards. Her son was expected to pick her up, but when he arrived at the store, all was in chaos.

Her relatives told Alabama.com Young will be remembered for her love for God and her family.

Celestine Chaney, 65, who was at the supermarket to buy strawberries for shortcake at the time of the shooting

Celestine Chaney, 65

Chaney was a breast cancer survivor, was at the supermarket with her older sister, JoAnn Daniels, because she wanted to buy strawberries for shortcake.

The loving mother and grandmother-of-six was also picking up some shrimp for her husband, Raymond.

Daniels told The Buffalo Times she never saw Gendron, but heard the sounds of his assault rifle.

She and Chaney were trying to flee when the 65-year-old was shot.

‘She fell and I thought she had got up and was behind me, but she wasn’t behind me,’ Daniels recalled. 

Roberta Drury, 32, was at the store to buy groceries for dinner. She had moved to the area to close to her older brother

Roberta Drury, 32

Drury was at the store to buy groceries for dinner when the shooting began.

She had moved to Buffalo from the Syracuse, New York, area to be with her older brother after his bone marrow transplant, her sister, Amanda Drury, told Reuters. 

Drury helped him with his bar, The Dalmatia, and with his family.

‘She was vibrant and outgoing, could talk to anyone,’ Amanda said. 

Heyward Patterson, 68, often give people rides to and from the supermarket and would help them carry their groceries

Heyward Patterson, 68

He often give people rides to and from the supermarket and would help them carry their groceries. This role earned him the nickname ‘Jitney.’

He was also a church deacon and would welcome parishioners and escort them to their seats.

‘He would give the shirt off his back,’ his wife, Tirzah Patterson, told The Buffalo News. ‘That’s who he is. He wouldn’t hurt anybody. Whatever he had, he’d give it to you.’

Geraldine Talley, right, entered the store on Saturday with her fiancée to pick up a few items for dinner

Geraldine Talley, 62

Talley is a mother of two children – Genicia Talley, 42, and Mark Talley, 32, and was also like a second mother to her niece, Kesha Chapman.

She had entered the store on Saturday to just pick up a few items, her sister, Kaye Chapman-Johnson told ABC News.

She had told her fiancée to go to another aisle to retrieve something off one of the shelves when the gunfire started.

Talley is now remembered for her mouth-watering cheesecake, People reports.

‘She was truly an amazing woman, and I’m going to miss her dearly,’ Chapman-Johnson said of her sister. 

Andre Mackniel, 53, was in town visiting relatives and went to the store to pick up a surprise birthday cake for his grandson

Andre Mackniel, 53 

Andre Mackniel, who also went by Andre Elliot, was in town visiting relatives.

He was at the store on Saturday to pick up a surprise birthday cake for his grandson, USA Today reports. 

But ‘he never came out with the cake,’ his cousin Clarissa Alston-McCutcheon said, describing her cousin as a ‘loving and caring guy’ who ‘loved family’ and ‘was always there for his family.’

He was listed as ‘engaged’ on his Facebook page.

Mackniel, of Auburn, New York, was self-employed, but used to work at Buffalo Wild Wings, according to Finger Lakes Daily News.

Margus Morrison was a father-of-three and an active bus aide for Buffalo schools since February 2019

Margus Morrison, 52 

Margus Morrison was a father of three who was an active bus aide for Buffalo schools since February 2019, USA Today reports.

His family later confirmed he was killed in the deadly shooting.