Tops Markets to Hold Remembrance Ceremony for Victims in Mass Shooting
On Wednesday, May 14, Tops Markets LLC will hold a remembrance ceremony near the 5/14 Honor Space that the company established at its Buffalo, N.Y., store following the racially motivated mass shooting of 10 people three years ago on that date.
On May 14, 2022, the then-18-year-old Payton Gendron livestreamed himself roaming the parking lot and aisles of a Tops store on Jefferson Avenue with a semiautomatic rifle, shooting 13 shoppers and employees, 10 of them fatally.
Located at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Landon Street, the Tops 5/14 Honor Space was unveiled in 2024 in memory of the lives lost. At the heart of the Honor Space stands Unity, a stainless-steel sculpture created by Buffalo artists Valeria Cray and Hiram Cray, her son, to serve as a visual depiction of faith, hope and love. The sculpture is surrounded by 10 granite honor bollards, each dedicated to the 10 lives lost.
The ceremony at the Jefferson Avenue Tops store will serve as an intimate gathering for the family members of the victims, to remember their loved ones and reflect on their ongoing healing journey. Starting at 2 p.m., it will feature a blessing, tributes from local and state officials, and a recitation of the names of those who lost their lives. At 2:28 p.m., a moment of silence will be observed before the ceremony concludes with a tolling of remembrance bells and the closing hymn of "Amazing Grace."
Prior to the start of the remembrance ceremony, wreaths will be placed at the 5/14 Honor Space at approximately 1:45 p.m. by family members of those lost. Both Tops CEO John Persons and Tops President Ron Ferri will take part in the ceremony.
Tops will temporarily pause operations only at its Jefferson Avenue store during the remembrance ceremony. The store will be open to serve the community from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., pause operations from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. for the remembrance ceremony, and then will reopen at 3:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. The store will return to regular operating hours, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., on Thursday.
Gendron is currently serving a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty in November 2022 to multiple state charges, including murder.
Last year, then-Attorney General Merrick Garland said that the government would seek the death penalty against Gendron in a parallel federal case charging him with hate crimes and weapons counts. The trial is scheduled to start in September.
