A Nassau County jury found Gabriel Wilson guilty Wednesday in the 2021 shooting at a West Hempstead Stop & Shop that left grocery manager Ray Wishropp dead and two other employees critically wounded.
The jury also convicted the former car collector of two counts of attempted second-degree murder and two counts of first-degree assault in the shootings of the two employees, store manager Aram Dikici and the manager of perishables Olivia Leary.
Wishropp, 49, was a father of seven and a new grandfather who had worked for Stop & Shop for decades.
Wishropp’s cousin, Alex Bernard, one of more than a dozen family members and friends of the victim who attended each day of the trial that began April 24, thanked the jury and the Nassau District Attorney’s office to give the family a sense of closure.
WHAT TO KNOW
A Nassau jury found Gabriel Wilson guilty of second-degree murder in the fatal 2021 Stop & Shop shooting of grocery manager Ray Wishropp. Wilson was also found guilty of two counts of attempted second-degree murder and other charges.
The jury found it that Wilson, 33, was not guilty of the attempted murder of two store employees who were wounded during the shooting.
Wilson is due back in court on June 8 for sentencing and faces 90 years to life in prison if convicted consecutively of the various crimes.
“Justice has been served,” said Bernard. “My cousin isn’t coming back. His oldest daughter is graduating this year; she’s going to have to graduate without her father there for her.”
Alex Bernard, cousin of Stop & Shop shooting victim Ray Wishropp, in court in Mineola on Wednesday. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Bernard, who served as the family’s spokesman 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 store manager dead on the file room floor . “Right now, they’re really exhausted,” Bernard said. “It’s been a long two weeks.”
Wishropp was loved by friends and family, his cousin said.
“He was an amazing person,” Bernard said. “Not a day goes by that we don’t think about him. A part of us is gone. Even with the justice done today, it does not bring him back.
After deliberating for about six hours on Tuesday and Wednesday, jurors decided Wilson, 33, was not guilty of the attempted murders of co-workers Cathy Moran and Ana Meehan, who were in a room of ‘second floor files with Wishropp when he was. fatally shot Neither woman was injured, though Nassau prosecutors said a bullet missed Meehan by inches before it lodged in an office printer.
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 from the courtroom. “This is my son.”
“I love you more,” Wilson replied.
Wanda Wilson, mother of convicted Stop & Shop shooter Gabriel Wilson, outside the Mineola courthouse Wednesday. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Acting Superior Court Judge Helene Gugerty ordered Wilson to return to court June 8 for sentencing. He faces 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 jurors during the trial that Wilson had come to work on the morning of April 20, 2021, to talk to Dikici about a transfer to a store in Hempstead closer to your 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, seriously wounding both.
Wilson immediately went to a file room, where he fatally shot Wishropp, prosecutors said. Stop & Shop employees Moran and Meehan were also in the room, although they were not injured. Wishropp was pronounced dead at the scene.
The only reason they didn’t kill more people, Rosenblatt told the jury in his closing arguments Tuesday, was because Wilson ran out of bullets.
Dozens of shoppers were in the store that morning, but they didn’t hear the shots.
Wilson left the supermarket, but was located by Hempstead and Nassau police after an extensive search of an apartment building on Terrace Avenue several hours later.
Defense attorney Brian Carmody acknowledged in his opening statement and summation that Wilson shot Wishropp, Dikici and Leary, but told the jury there was no evidence his client intended to kill his companions of work
Carmody said Wilson was angry that Dikici did not approve his transfer request and wanted to injure, but not kill, the manager. Leary, he said, was hit by a bullet intended for Dikici. Wishropp was shot because Wilson feared he would prevent his departure.
Wilson suffered a traumatic brain injury after being shot in the head at age 19, Carmody said.
Wanda Wilson said her son struggled with mental illness.
“He was in a coma for quite some time,” she said. “He had to learn to walk and talk again.”
The woman said she was unable to care for her son after he was hit by a car and suffered a brain injury in 2018. She said Wilson was abandoned by a social service agency during the early part of the COVID- 19 who was supposed to provide him with medication and support. His mental health declined rapidly after that, he said, adding that he was unfit to stand trial.
“They failed my son,” she said. “We need to spend more time and study mental health issues and people with disabilities, with traumatic brain injuries. You can’t ignore 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 co-workers, many of whom attended the trial, as they continue to mourn their senseless loss,” he said.
Stop & Shop issued a statement thanking the Nassau County Police Department for the investigation that led to Wilson’s arrest two years ago and Donnelly’s office for prosecuting the case.
“Our hearts go out to the family of the late Mr Wishropp and our colleagues who survived the attack,” the statement said.
Michael O’Keeffe covers the Suffolk County Police and other Long Island law enforcement agencies. He is an award-winning journalist and co-author of two books, “The Card” and “American Icon.”
