Mourners gathered Wednesday to honor Aaron Salter Jr., the security guard and ex-Buffalo police officer who died in an exchange of gunfire while trying to stop suspected supermarket shooter Payton Gendron.
Salter Jr. was laid to rest in Getzville, NY, a hamlet just north of Buffalo. The ceremony involved full police honors, despite his being retired from the force.
“He is getting full honors — line-of-duty death honors,” Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia told Buffalo News 4. “We are going to see him off for his family with every honor this police department and the city can give him.”
Salter Jr. was a Buffalo cop for 30 years before retiring. He’d worked for Tops Friendly Market for four years at the time of the shooting.
Police say Salter Jr. opened fire on Gendron early in the rampage but was unable to stop the shooter, who was wearing body armor and a ballistic-rated helmet. Gendron allegedly returned fire, killing Salter.
