“It was an outpouring of support,” Smith said. “Those people in our circle have reached out to provide any kind of resources that we might need. I would … say thank you (to Southern Baptists), from North Buffalo, for our partnership, because it’s made a major difference, in a few days, just a short period of time, to know that we’ve got people behind us, supporting us.
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“I’m glad to be a Southern Baptist.”
In addition to Salter, Buffalo police identified the murder victims as 86-year-old Ruth Whitfield, 77-year-old Pearly Young, 72-year-old Katherine Massey, 67-year-old Heyward Patterson, 65-year-old Celestine Chaney, 32-year-old Roberta Drury, 52-year-old Margus Morrison, 53-year-old Andre Mackneil and 62-year-old Geraldine Talley.
Three others were injured, Buffalo Police said, namely 20-year-old Zaire Goodman of Buffalo, 50-year-old Jennifer Warrington from Tonawanda, N.Y., and 55-year-old Christopher Braden from Lackawanna, N.Y. Goodman and Warrington were treated and released from a local hospital. Braden remained hospitalized May 15, a local NBC news affiliated reported.
Through a 180-page manifesto the shooting suspect posted online, police have connected Gendron to a fringe “replacement theory” conspiracy that says whites are being slowly and intentionally replaced by minorities and immigrants, CNN and other news outlets reported.
“We don’t have any answers for these kinds of things. Biblically, I don’t see how this is going to get any better,” Smith said. “When I read the Bible, I see that as the last days – which I believe we’re in – the kind of violence, this is just going to get worse. I’m not plotting out these things on a graph, but I see, all across our world, things are just getting worse and worse.”
Public prayer meetings are scheduled to help the community grieve and heal.
This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.
