'Operation Tops': Prayers for forgiveness and healing

On May 14, 2022, white supremacist Payton Gendron shot and killed 10 Black people at a Tops Market in Buffalo.

Almost one year to the day, on Thursday night, about 20 people gathered at the Tops Market on South Transit Road to honor those lost in the massacre. Similar gatherings took place at 13 other Tops markets in Western New York at the same time.

In Lockport, there was another reason to grieve: One of the people murdered by Gendron was longtime town resident Aaron Salter Jr.

Salter, a retired Buffalo police officer, was working a part-time job as a security guard at the Tops Market on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo. It was there that Salter confronted Gendron, shot him, and was then killed by the hate-filled teen, who was wearing body armor.

Salter was declared a hero who had given his life so others could escape.

At the Lockport remembrance ceremony, Edwin Perez, a member of The Chapel, led the attendees in song as he played guitar, the music prayerfully seeking forgiveness of those who hate, and healing for those who have lost. Perez was invited by town resident Alice Patterson, who organized the local ceremony as part of "Operation Tops."

Salter "stood in the gap so he was sure those people around him got to safety," Patterson said. "For me, it's just like God says, about how there's ‘no greater love than a man to give his life for someone else,’ and that's what he did."

Salter's widow, Kimberly, attended the ceremony. She knows her husband was a hero.

"He was awesome, he is awesome. What he did showed the person he was," she said. "He was my hero every single day, and I will always cherish that. I miss my husband. I miss him terribly."

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