Mourners Honor Slain Retired N.Y. Officer who 'Saved Lives' in Shooting

By Maki Becker

Source The Buffalo News, N.Y.

An American flag draped over the casket.

An honor guard of dozens of uniformed officers.

The jarring blasts of a 21-gun salute, followed by the mournful sounds of "Taps" played on a horn.

Aaron Salter retired four years ago from the Buffalo Police Department.

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But on Wednesday at his funeral, Salter, 55, who was one of 10 people killed in the May 14 massacre at the Tops Markets on Jefferson Avenue, was honored as an officer who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.

At a funeral service at The Chapel in Getzville attended by hundreds, Salter was awarded the Buffalo Police Department's Medal of Honor, the highest honor that can be bestowed on an officer — "for his sheer bravery in taking on the face of evil in order to save lives," Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia told mourners. "Aaron saved lives."

Salter was also posthumously promoted to the rank of lieutenant.

And his former colleagues on the police force announced they had started a scholarship in his honor to be given to a graduate of Hutchinson Central Technical High School — Salter's alma mater — to help with expenses during the first year of college.

Salter was working as a security guard at the Tops on Jefferson when a gunman armed with a semi-automatic military style rifle began hunting down customers and workers.

When the rampage began, Salter was just outside the entrance of the supermarket, helping a customer with her groceries, Gramaglia said.

"Aaron was in a complete defensive position, but was able to make it back in the store to warn others and find a position of cover where he was able to take action," Gramaglia told the mourners. "Aaron bravely fought evil that day. This fight allowed numerous customers precious seconds to run through the cash register lanes towards the back of the store while Aaron remained up front fighting. That act of bravery led to his ultimate demise."

Salter's funeral was the sixth so far of the "Jefferson 10," as many in the East Side community have started calling the victims. Wednesday morning, Pearl Young was laid to rest. A Sunday school teacher and Evangelical missionary, she was shopping at Tops when she was killed. She was 77. Three more funerals are planned for Friday — Andre Mackniel, Margus Morrison and Geraldine Talley — and another on Saturday for Ruth Whitfield.

Salter's services were filled with the sounds of gospel and the words of the Holy Bible. The band was made up of his family members.

Mourners, including police from around the country, filled the seats.

Buffalo Police Officer Moe Badger, known as one of the "Buffalo Singing Cops," sang his heart out, dressed in his uniform with a black mourning band across his badge.

"How great is our Lord!" he sang.

Kimberly Beaty, the former Buffalo police deputy commissioner who is now the director of public safety at Canisius College, shared memories of her friend. She talked about his deep roaring laugh that could be heard from the other end of the Northeast District station where they worked together. She made the mourners laugh, talking about how when people would come to the station and were looking for him but didn't remember his name, they'd say "the officer with the box cut" haircut — his signature look.

"He loved being a police officer," Beaty said, and he did it to serve his community.

Rev. Dr. Cassandra L. Salter-Smith, Salter's cousin who is an associate pastor at ZionQuest Christian Fellowship Wesleyan Church, gave the eulogy.

She talked of Salter's many devotions and passions in life — his wife, his three children, his ability to fix things, his thirst for knowledge and his faith in God.

"He truly is a superhero servant leader," she said.

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