Gabriel Wilson found guilty of second-degree murder in 2021 Stop & Shop shooting

A Nassau County jury found Gabriel Wilson guilty of murder Wednesday in the 2021 shooting spree at a West Hempstead Stop & Shop that left grocery manager Ray Wishropp dead and two other employees severely injured. 

The jury also convicted the former cart collector of two counts of second-degree attempted murder and two counts of first-degree assault in the shootings of the two employees, store manager Aram Dikici and perishables manager Olivia Leary. 

Wishropp, 49, was the father of seven and a new grandfather who had worked for Stop & Shop for decades. 

Wishropp’s cousin Alex Bernard, one of the dozen-plus relatives and friends of the victim who attended every day of the trial that began on April 24, thanked the jury and the Nassau District Attorney’s Office for bringing the family a sense of closure. 

“Justice is served,” Bernard said. “It is not going to bring my cousin back. His oldest daughter is going to graduate this year; she’s going to have to graduate without her dad there for her.”

Bernard, who served as a spokesman for the family during the trial, said it was difficult for Wishropp’s children and parents to hear graphic testimony about the shooting and see photos of the grocery manager dead on the floor of the file room. “Right now, they are very drained,” Bernard said. “It’s been a long two weeks.”

Wishropp was beloved by friends and family, his cousin said. 

“He was just an amazing person,” Bernard said. “A day doesn’t go by that we don’t think about him. A part of us is gone. Even with the justice served today, it doesn’t bring him back."

After deliberating for about six hours over Tuesday and Wednesday, the jurors decided that Wilson, 33, was not guilty of the attempted murder of co-workers Cathy Moran and Ana Meehan, who were in a second-floor file room with Wishropp when he was fatally shot. Neither woman was injured, although Nassau prosecutors said one bullet missed Meehan by  inches before it lodged in an office printer. 

The jurors also found Wilson guilty of two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

After the verdict, Wilson's mother, Wanda Wilson, who attended the trial, shouted, "I love you, Gabe," as he was led out of the courtroom. "That is my son."

"I love you more," Wilson responded.

Acting Supreme Court Justice Helene Gugerty ordered Wilson to be returned to court on June 8 for sentencing. He faces up to 90 years to life in prison if Gugerty orders his sentences to run consecutively. 

Nassau County Assistant District Attorneys Stefanie Palma and Jared Rosenblatt told the jury during the trial that Wilson had come to work on the morning of April 20, 2021, to speak to Dikici about a transfer to a Hempstead store closer to his home. Wilson left the store but returned later that morning and went to an office on the store’s second floor. He opened fire on Dikici and Leary, severely injuring both.

Wilson then immediately went to a file room, where he fatally shot Wishropp, the prosecutors said. Moran and Meehan were also in the room. Wishropp was pronounced dead at the scene. 

The only reason more people weren’t killed, Rosenblatt told the jury in his closing arguments on Tuesday, was because Wilson ran out of bullets. 

Dozens of shoppers were in the store that morning, but they did not hear the gunfire.

Wilson left the supermarket but was tracked down by Hempstead and Nassau police following an exhaustive search at a Terrace Avenue apartment building several hours later.  

Defense attorney Brian Carmody acknowledged in his opening statement and his summation that Wilson shot Wishropp, Dikici and Leary, but told the jury that there was no evidence that his client intended to kill his co-workers.

Carmody said Wilson was angry because Dikici did not approve his transfer request and wished to injure — but not kill — the manager. Leary, he said, was hit with a bullet intended for Dikici. Wishropp was shot because Wilson feared he was going to impede his exit.

Wilson suffered a traumatic brain injury after he was shot in the head at age 19, Carmody said. Since then, Wanda Wilson said, her son has struggled with mental illness. 

“He was in a coma for quite a long time,” she said. “He had to learn to walk and talk again.” 

Wanda Wilson said she could not care for her son after she herself was hit by a car and suffered a brain injury in 2018. She said her son was unable to get medication and support during the early pandemic from a social services agency assigned to him.  His mental health declined rapidly after that, she said, adding that she felt he was not fit to stand trial. 

“They failed my son,” she said. “We have to take more time and look into mental health issues and people with disabilities, with traumatic brain injuries. You can’t overlook that.” 

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said in a statement that Gabriel Wilson has never shown remorse for his actions.

“We thank the jury for their service and our thoughts are with Ray’s many family members, friends and longtime co-workers — many of whom attended the trial — as they continue to mourn his senseless loss,” she said.

Stop & Shop issued a statement thanking the Nassau County Police Department and Donnelly's office. "Our hearts remain with the family of the late Mr. Wishropp and our colleagues who survived the attack," the statement said.