Buffalo security guard Aaron Salter Jr. remembered for heroic actions, big heart in tribute

GETZVILLE - Aaron Salter Jr. was a good man, a funny man and a loving man, family, friends and colleagues said Wednesday.

He was remembered for his vibrant personality, his genius-level mechanic skills and his faith in God.

And he was honored for not shying away from danger to protect himself, instead running and facing it head on May 14, a day that irreversibly shaped the lives of people across Buffalo and the country.

That was the day that Salter Jr. faced his greatest battle.

A retired BPD officer and security guard a Tops, Salter was walking a woman out of the Tops — something he regularly did — when a white supremacist gunman approached.

"When all hell broke lose at Tops," retired Buffalo Police Department Deputy Police Commissioner Kimberly Beaty said, "Aaron Salter, the policeman, stepped into his assignment."

Salter engaged the gunman, "put(ting) the fight to him," Joseph A. Gramaglia, Commissioner of the Buffalo Police Department, said. After initially interacting with the gunman, Salter Jr., ran into Tops and warned customers to flee to the back of the store. He stayed in the front to protect them.

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The gunman fired on Salter Jr., killing him, but not before Salter was able to warn other customers in the shop about the threat.

"What really has to be truly comprehended is the amount of precious seconds his forward actions allowed people to run towards the back of the store and give them precious seconds to escape. Because of that, people survived," Gramaglia said. "Had that evil, despicable attacker been able to come in unchallenged, there were more people at that front register area that absolutely would have been victim."

On May 25, Salter,  who has been identified as a hero, was laid to rest, receiving full line-of-duty honors. Over 150 law enforcement officers from across the country and Canada attended the service along with elected officials.

"When the purest form of evil revealed itself yet again in another act of senseless gun violence," Gramaglia said, "Aaron was in a complete defensive position but was able to make it back into the store to warn others and find a position  of cover where he was able to take action. Aaron bravely fought evil that day."

At the start of the service, Gramaglia delivered words of respect, during which he posthumously promoted Salter to the rank of lieutenant and awarded him the department's medal of honor.

Salter Jr., served as an officer in the Buffalo Police Department for nearly 30 years, from 1989 to 2018. After retiring, he began working as a security guard at Tops.

Remembered locally and nationally for his heroic service, Salter Jr's funeral allowed mourners, including those who viewed via livestream, to see a different side. Many of the people who delivered words of remembrance shared funny memories: Beaty remembered Salter's "tremendous" laugh and his big heart.

His former partner on the Buffalo Police Department, Nathan Goldsmith, remembered Salter's intelligence.

"He could darn near take a magnifying glass and some aluminum and make a flashlight," Goldsmith said.

His childhood friend Rodney Cunningham noted that his "brother" was gone, and remembered that his friend "understood and demonstrated what it means and what is required to make America great."

According to his obituary, Aaron Salter Jr., was born to Aaron and Carol Salter, Sr. at Children's Hospital in Buffalo. He went to School 78 from kindergarten to eighth grade. He graduated from Hutchinson Technical High School in 1984. Officers announced a $2,500 scholarship for a Hutchinson senior in Salter's name.

The mass school shooting in Texas, where a gunman killed at least 19 children and 2 adults, happened the day before Salter was laid to rest. The two shootings, just over a week apart, were on the minds of many.

“It’s one thing to experience personal grief,” Cunningham said, “and quite another to experience personal grief that is part of a national culture war that, to be candid, has been going on for years with no end in sight."

Adria R. Walker is the Upstate New York storytelling reporter for the USA Today Network's New York State Team. Follow her on Twitter at @adriawalkr or send her an email at arwalker@gannett.com. This reporting is made possible by readers like you.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Aaron Salter Jr. remembered for heroic action in Buffalo mass shooting