Community Corner
Stop & Shop Creates Fund For Grieving West Hempstead Employees
The supermarket president is contributing $500,000 and vows 100 percent of donations will go directly to the victims.
WEST HEMPSTEAD, NY — In the wake of the deadly shooting at the Stop & Shop on Hempstead Turnpike, supermarket president Gordon Reid said he is giving back to traumatized staffers.
Stop & Shop is establishing the West Hempstead Compassion Fund, Reid stated on Monday. He is donating $500,000 to kick off the fund.
It will be managed by the National Compassion Fund, and 100 percent of all donations will be made available directly to the victims of the April 20 shooting. Three Stop & Shop staff members were shot, including Ray Wishropp, 49, of Valley Stream, who was killed in the barrage, police said. Wishropp was a store manager at the West Hempstead location.
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Reid said the former crime scene reopened to the public Monday afternoon.
"We encourage you to visit the memorials we have set up both inside and outside the store as a way for all of us to honor our associates who were impacted and their families," Reid said.
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After a four-hour manhunt, police took 31-year-old Gabriel DeWitt Wilson into custody. He pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder charges.
"Please know our hearts are with you Long Island." Reid wrote. "Together, we will begin to heal."
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