BUFFALO —
The funeral for two of the victims of a mass shooting in Buffalo turned into a spirited fundraiser Friday, with religious leaders and mourners lining up at the altar to contribute to a reward for information leading police to the gunman.
The Rev. Darius Pridgen and his True Bethel Baptist Church started the fund with $4,000 during the joint services for Shawn-Tia McNeil, 27, and her 32-year-old cousin, Tiffany Wilhite. Other pastors, two funeral home owners and a host of people from the packed pews came forward past the cousins’ white caskets and swelled the amount to around $20,000.
With some donors waving credit cards, Pridgen instructed staffers to bring out the church’s card machine to take donations.
“If we could take food stamps I would, too!” said the fired-up pastor, who said the outpouring was unexpected and unplanned.
McNeil and Wilhite were among eight people shot, four fatally, outside the City Grill about 2:30 a.m. Saturday after managers, fearful trouble was starting, closed the crowded restaurant and made patrons leave. Police believe more than 100 people were nearby when someone opened fire on the crowd, but witnesses have been reluctant to come forward.
“Somebody knows something,” Pridgen said in announcing the reward.
On Thursday, a 25-year-old man reportedly wanted for questioning about the shooting was arrested on charges unrelated to the attack.
Police spokesman Michael DeGeorge confirmed Friday that Steven Talley was arrested on charges of burglary and unlawful imprisonment, but DeGeorge declined to comment on a published report that said police wanted to question Talley about the gunfire outside City Grill. The news report, which cited unidentified law enforcement sources, said police believe Talley was at the shooting scene.
Telephone listings for Talley or relatives could not be located Friday.
Meanwhile, Chief of Detectives Dennis Richards asked witnesses to “exercise the courage to come forward and contact the police and help us solve this case.”
In a prepared statement, Richards said police continue to make progress in the investigation.
Of the four men wounded, one remained hospitalized Friday. Demario Vass, 30, was in critical condition at Erie County Medical Center.
Friday’s funerals marked the second of three days of services for the dead. On Thursday, 30-year-old Danyell Mackin was remembered as a loving husband and father who was in town from Austin, Texas, to celebrate his first wedding anniversary with hometown relatives and friends.
Services for 26-year-old Willie McCaa III are scheduled for today.
If the shooter turns himself in or is arrested without public assistance, the reward money collected Friday will be divided among the victims’ families, Pridgen said.
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