Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - For one Buffalo family, the anniversary of the 5/14 mass shooting in East Buffalo will bring even more pain and grief.
Garnell Whitfield Jr., former Buffalo Fire Commissioner who tragically lost his mother Ruth Whitfield in the Tops mass shooting on May 14, 2022, will be burying his father on the third anniversary of one of the darkest days in Buffalo history.
"My father passed away earlier in the week and we will be burying him tomorrow," Whitfield told WBEN on Tuesday.
"It's 5/14. It's an opportunity for my family and I to reframe that day, rather than only focusing on the loss of our mother. It will be my parents' eternal reunion."
Garnell Whitfield Sr. lived in a nursing home for over 10 years. Ruth Whitfield would go to the nursing home every day to make sure her husband was being cared for. She visited him the day of the Tops mass shooting.
Ruth Whitfield was among the 10 Black people killed when a white teenager opened fire at the Tops Friendly Market on Jefferson Avenue in a rampage allegedly fueled by racial hatred.
Garnell Whitfield Jr., who is running in the June primary for Buffalo Mayor, is thankful for the time he and his family had with his father.
"We will commit him to eternal rest. He will be with my mother and his creator," he said.