Buffalo Bills' Hall of Famers to support families of supermarket shooting victims
Attorney Ben Crump, family of Ruth Whitfield mourn victims after Buffalo shooting
The family of 86-year-old Ruth Whitfield, one of the victims of a mass shooting at a Buffalo grocery store, joined civil rights attorney Ben Crump at a news conference on May 16, 2022, to mourn her death and discuss the shooting.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Bills Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas tells The Associated Press he and several former teammates are coming together in Buffalo this week to help support families of the shooting victims.
Among those players expected to make the trip are Hall of Famers defensive end Bruce Smith and receiver Andre Reed, along with Thomas and Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly, who like Thomas lives in the area.
"Those guys said right away, `We’ll be here this week because that’s our city. We love it and we want to be supportive,‘" Thomas said. "They want to see what they can do and how they can help, because they were really a part of this community for a number of years and they want to continue to help."
RELATED: Buffalo shooting suspect aimed to keep killing if he got away, police say
Thomas, who has already pledged $10,000 of support to the victims’ families from his charitable foundation, said it was too early to provide any details of the gathering.
The four Hall of Famers were key members of the Buffalo teams that won four straight AFC championships, though they lost in the Super Bowl each year.
Ten people were killed in the shooting spree.