BUFFALO, N.Y. — A special race honoring and remembering those killed on May 14, 2022, at the Jefferson Avenue Tops was held on Saturday.
The first-ever 5/14 5K and half-marathon served as not only a tribute to the victims, but also a fundraiser for a scholarship that was created as a lasting legacy for one of them.
Patrick Cray is a retired Buffalo Police officer, and Lt. Aaron Salter, Jr. was a friend of his. Salter retired from his same department, and Cray was there Saturday to encourage the runners.
Salter was working as an armed security guard at Tops on May 14 and died trying to save others.
Hundreds of runners came together to pay tribute Salter and the other nine victims for the first ever 5/14 5K and half-marathon.
Julie Deuble ran for those who couldn't on Saturday morning, during the event which started at Canisius College and ended in Delaware Park.
"You think it doesn't happen here, and that we don't have that kind of hate here, and we do," Deuble said. "We need to realize that we need to do the things that show that that is not OK.
"Hatred like that is toxic. You have to show up and say, 'I am against it' and that hate is not OK. I am here to show you that I love you, and care about you, that Officer Salter mattered, and my friends mattered. When your friends ask you to show up, you show up."