West Hempstead Stop & Shop opens up for 1st time since fatal shooting

Stop & Shop reopened its West Hempstead store Monday, six days after a gunman fatally shot a manager and wounded two employees — a burst of violence that stunned Long Island amid recent mass shootings in public places nationwide.

A picture of Ray Wishropp, 49, the grocery manager who died, and also a father of seven and a new grandfather, was displayed along with flowers at a memorial just feet from the entrance to the store where he lost his life.

Some shoppers stopped by the memorial, paused for a few seconds, and headed inside where another tribute included messages such as "West Hempstead Strong."

"I said a prayer for him and for his family," said David Frankel, of West Hempstead. "[Wishropp's] children are going to grow up and not know their father, certainly not know their father well. As a father of three that’s a heartbreak to me."

On April 20, Gabriel DeWitt Wilson, 31, a shopping cart attendant, fatally shot Wishropp, of Valley Stream, Nassau police said. He also shot and wounded two other store employees: a 50-year-old man from Bethpage and a 26-year-old woman from Bay Shore, police said.

Updates on conditions of the two victims were not available Monday.

Wilson was arrested in a Hempstead apartment building about four hours after the shooting and charged with one count of murder and four counts of attempted murder. Wilson has pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail. A judge has set Wilson's next court date for May 12.

Stop & Shop officials said Monday that employees of the West Hempstead store were provided grief counseling and support.

"To the Long Island community, We share in your heartache following the senseless acts of violence that occurred at our West Hempstead store last week," said Gordon Reid, the Massachusetts-based chain's president, in the statement. "Stop & Shop is mourning the loss of our beloved team member and we are praying for the full recovery of our two other associates who were injured."

Reid added that Stop & Shop had created a West Hempstead Compassion Fund that will be managed by the National Compassion Fund, with 100% of the donations going to the "victims of this tragedy."

Customers on Monday talked about the importance — both literally and symbolically — of the store opening again less than a week after the shootings.

Dianne McNeshie, a nurse at Nassau University Medical Center, said she goes to the store often because it's on the way to her home in Queens.

McNeshie said knowing what happened inside last week made going inside the store again "disheartening." But she said she plans to continue shopping there.

"I just trust in the Lord that he’s going to cover me wherever I go," she said. "That’s all you can do."

Edith Quiroga, a West Hempstead resident, said she went inside and said "hello" to the employees.

"I was so happy to see them back because as you can see the community needed this store opened," she said. " I can’t hide in my house. I have to come out and we have to live. We can’t be brought down by fear."

Leonard Jankunas of Elmont said he shops at the hamlet store "all the time" but had not met Wishropp.

"But I still feel terrible," he said.