Aaron Salter Jr.Photo: Family Handout
One ofthe 10 people slaughtered Saturdayin ahate-fueled mass shootingin Buffalo, N.Y., was a retired police officer who died trying to stop the rampage.
Aaron Salter, Jr., 55, had retired four years ago from the Buffalo Police Department after 30 years on the job. To regular shoppers at Tops Friendly Markets, Salter was the supermarket’s friendly security guard.
Salter is now being called a hero in the wake ofSaturday’s senseless violence, after authorities confirmed the former cop tried stopping alleged murdererPayton S. Gendronmoments after the heavily-armed 18-year-old killed three people just outside the market’s doors.
Salter was armed, and fired upon the shooter, who was wearing tactical gear and body armor.
“The security guard that was killed did shoot and hit the suspect but it did not penetrate the body armor,” explained Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown,speaking to NPR Sunday. “Former Buffalo Police Lieutenant Aaron Salter died a hero trying to stop the shooter and protect others in the community.”
According to reports, his mother had worked at Tops for years before she retired in 1986.
The shooter seemingly planned the massacre over several months. A review of a manifesto he released online suggests the shooter is a white supremacist who drove several hours to Buffalo to kill people in a predominantly-Black neighborhood.
When responding officers arrived at the scene, the shooter eventually put a gun to his own neck before officers convinced him to drop the weapon. At that point, the suspect was taken into custody.
Salter’s sonspoke tothe Daily Beast. “Today is a shock,” Aaron Salter, III, said. “I’m pretty sure he saved some lives today. He’s a hero.”
Salter joined the police force in Buffalo in the early 1980s, right after graduating high school.
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All but two of the 13 people shot Saturday were Black. Three other individuals survived the shooting with non-fatal injuries.
After retiring, Salter turned his focus towards fulfilling his dream of building sustainable vehicles that run on green energy,according to his LinkedIn profile. He’d started his own company: AWS Hydrogen Technologies.
“I’m always working on my vehicles and or my project of running engines on water for the last four years or so,” reads his LinkedIn profile. “I would like to realize my dream of getting cars to run off of water using my newly discovered energy source some day.”
Salter’s cousin, Adam Bennifield, called his death “a straight travesty,” adding in a social media post: “I am devastated.”
Roscoe C. Henderson, III, a friend of Salter’s, also wrote in a social media post, “Aaron is one of the most intelligent individuals that I’ve ever crossed paths with. Today hurts.”
source: people.com
