Niagara Falls will be lit orange in memory of those killed in Buffalo, N.Y., shooting
American and Canadian Horseshoe Falls will be illuminated from 11 p.m. to midnight ET
Niagara Falls will be lit orange Tuesday night in memory of the victims of the mass shooting in Buffalo, N.Y.
Both the American and Canadian Horseshoe Falls will be illuminated in an orange glow from 11 p.m. to midnight ET, according to a media release from the Niagara Parks Commission. Orange was chosen as a colour associated with the prevention of gun violence.
The parks commission described the incident at a Tops supermarket on Saturday in Buffalo that police said left 10 people dead and three injured as a "tragic and senseless shooting."
Among the victims was a man buying a cake for his grandson, a church deacon who helped people get their groceries home and a supermarket security guard.
Their names were Katherine Massey, Roberta Drury, Pearly Young, Heyward Patterson, Celestine Chaney, Aaron Salter, Andre Mackniel, Margus Morrison, Geraldine Talley and Ruth Whitfield.
Former Buffalo fire commissioner Garnell Whitfield Jr., was Ruth's son. He asked how the country could allow its history of racist killings to repeat itself.
"We're not just hurting. We're angry. We're mad, he said at a news conference. "This shouldn't have happened."
An 18-year-old white gunman is accused of massacring 10 Black people in a racist rampage.
The gunman wielded an AR-15-style rifle, wore body armour and used a helmet camera to live stream the killings on Saturday, authorities said. He surrendered inside the supermarket and was arraigned on a murder charge over the weekend. He pleaded not guilty and was jailed under a suicide watch.
Federal prosecutors said they are contemplating federal hate crime charges in the case.
Investigators have said they're reviewing the gunman's social media postings.
A racist, 180-page document that said the assault was intended to terrorize all non-white, non-Christian people and get them to leave the country is also being reviewed. Federal authorities were working to confirm the document's authenticity.
Cross-border families grieving
Flags at city hall in Niagara Falls were lowered and families with loved ones in Buffalo previously told CBC they're mourning with the city across the border.
Sherri Darlene said most of her family still lives there and her father visits the supermarket where the shooting happened nearly every day. He came "that close" to being there on Saturday, she said.
"This is my backyard and it's way too close to home. It's so scary and so heartbreaking," said Darlene, who is also the founder of the Niagara-based Justice 4 Black Lives.
"I need white people to wake up," she said.
"We're tired of you telling us that we're in your thoughts. We're tired of you feeling sorry for us. What we want you to do is acknowledge that white supremacy is the biggest threat in this country today."
Brock University, which is about a 40 minute drive from Buffalo, also shared a statement on Monday.
"This deliberate act of terror targeting Black people led to the loss of 10 lives and has left a community devastated," it read.
"Sadly, this is just one of too many events that occur regularly to demonstrate the continued and dehumanizing outcomes of racist white supremacist extremism in our societies."
with files from the Associated Press