BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) — With word of yet another mass shooting in our nation, we reflect on the ten beloved community members who were killed and those who survived the mass shooting at the Tops store on Jefferson Avenue.
“Enough is enough. When are people going to wake up,” replied Rose Marie Wysocki.
Wysocki was working inside the Jefferson Avenue Tops and witnessed the horrifying attack in May of 2022. She tells me she was shocked to learn of the Lewiston, Maine mass shooting.
“I just started praying for the families, knowing what they were -- the loss of those beautiful lives, those beautiful souls, and the ones that witnessed everything, because their life will never be the same. My life's not the same,” reflected Wysocki.
Wysocki, who now works for the Tops store in Alden, says it was too hard to continue to work at the Buffalo store. She says the country must fight harder for better mental health.
“Mental health, mental health. I mean seriously, the government needs to really look at the mental health system. I had a tough time finding a counselor to take care of all this or to handle all of this and I’m still in counseling and it's nearly two years later,” Wysocki commented.
“Oh boy, here we go again,” reacted Zeneta Everhart.
For Zeneta Everhardt of Buffalo, whose son Zaire survived the Tops mass shooting, it's about gun control.
"We're right back at that conversation of common-sense gun reform. We are not trying to take your guns away. I will defend the Second Amendment 100%. This is America — if you want to own a gun, buy a gun, but do you need an AR-15?” declared Everhart.
Everhart met me outside the Jefferson Avenue Tops, reflecting on this latest mass shooting in yet another public space.
“This is America. We are citizens in this country. We should feel safe walking out our front door or going anywhere in this country without the threat of does that person sitting in their car in that parking lot have an AR-15,” remarked Everhart. “A person can't carry out a shooting like that with a handgun. they can only carry it out with a weapon that was designed for war to kill as many people in as little time as possible.”
“Unfortunately, it’s business as usual,” said Mark Talley of Buffalo.
Talley’s mother, Geraldine, was killed in the Tops shooting.
“We don't need all these guns. There's no point for the average American citizen to have a semi-automatic rifle,” stated Mark Talley. “America's love affair with gun cultures — semi-automatic rifles and weapons — you can only expect for stuff like this to happen.”
Talley tells me it makes no sense that someone with mental illness had access to an assault rifle.
The Maine shooting suspect underwent a mental health evaluation in July after investigators say he began acting erratically during army reservist training.
“You just get tired of seeing stupidity and it seems people are starting to have less and less common sense,” Talley responded.
For now, this latest mass shooting is another painful reminder of how we must all be on guard. Wysocki warns all of us to always pay attention to our surroundings.
“I find myself protecting my grandchildren more, worried about where my kids are,” Wysocki noted.
