person in the store shooting. and she proceeded to say to me, what? i can t hear you. why are you whispering. you don t have to whisper. they can t hear you. reporter: she dropped her phone and says she was disconnected. i just laid down flat on the floor and got against the counter praying that he didn t see me. during this whole time it s just constant just shooting. he won t stop. it was constantly going. as i hear him getting closer, i just pressed myself, like, trying to get as flat as i can on the ground and up against the counter praying that he wouldn t see me. reporter: in addition to the profound grief the community is feeling, there s the potential for real economic fallout. several people in this neighborhood told us it took local leaders years to get this tops supermarket established in this neighborhood, and then when it was, other businesses like banks quickly followed. they re now worried even when this tops store reopens as promised that the economic
i did not know what happened to her because she was at the front and if was at the back. 20 minutes later they were gone and that was the longest day of my life. reporter: she tried to call 911 as soon as the shooting started but said she was hung up on by the operator. i gave her my address and i said, please help, there is a person in the store shooting. she proceeded to say to me, what, i can t hear you. why are you whispering? you don t have to whisper. they can t hear you. so i said, ma am, he s still in the store, he s still shooting and by this time he is literally still shooting in the background, and i feel like when she hung up on me and she never called back, i feel like she left me to die. in her eventual escape, rogers recognized two people she knew dead on the floor. one was deacon hayward
he went to the back of the story where the milk is and, like, it was the the door was locked and we could not get out. reporter: she hid in a cooler with her dad. i was scared for my mom. i did not know what happened to her because she was at the front and i was at the back. 40 minutes later, they let me out. reporter: letitia rogers tried to call 911 but says she was hung up on by the operator. i gave her the address. i said please send help there is a person in the store shooting. and she proceeded to say to me, what, i can t hear you. why are you whispering? you don t have to whisper. they can t hear you. so i said, ma am, he s still in the store. he s still shooting.
helping somebody else. reporter: another friend says the community is angered but can you forgive this gunman? i have to. reporter: some people would argue you don t have to. well, i m a christian. you have to. it s mandatory for us. reporter: the buffalo suspect s racism was evident divergent a previous visit to the store, according to an employee who survived the shooting. he told me i looked like i didn t belong there, like, you know i said what do you belong by that? then under his breath i could hear him say just another lover. and i just thought, you know, that s just rude, you re just rude. reporter: another store employee who survived told cnn she called 911 and the operator scolded her for wisperring. i gave her the address and said please send help, there s a person in the store shooting.
person to call and i called my boyfriend. i said, babe, you have to call 911, there is a person in the store shooting but i m saying it in the same whispering, talk to her with and she says, in the store and i said, yes, he is still in the store shooting, please call 911 and he says, okay. as soon as i hung up with him, a coworker of mine facetiming and something with him. i whispered on the phone. he asked me, where are you? i said, i m at the front desk and you have to call 911. please call 911. he said, i m coming to get you, please get up and run out. i said, i m scared. i don t want to run. he s still in the store. please call 911. at the hangup with him, now, the shooting stops. the store is dead silent. the music i don t know how the music got turned off. the music was off and it s