Aaron Salter Jr.: Hero, Inventor, Former Police Officer (1966 – 2022)
Aaron Salter Jr. was a former police officer, an inventor and hero who had a passion for engineering and helping others. He was killed on May 14, 2022 attempting to save the lives of others during the Buffalo, NY mass shooting at a TOPS Friendly Market store in the East Side neighborhood. Salter was only 55 years old at the time of his murder.
Who was Aaron Salter Jr.?
Aaron Salter Jr., was born to Aaron and Carol Salter, Sr. at Children’s Hospital in Buffalo, NY. His late mother, Carol, worked as a cashier at a Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo for 15 years, then served as front-end manager until she retired in 1986. She and his father, Aaron Salter, Sr., then opened a dry cleaners, which they ran until it closed in 1998.
Aaron grew up on the East Side of Buffalo and attended Public School 78 in Buffalo and graduated from Hutchinson Central Technical High School in 1984. He attended Canisius College, a private university in Western New York, where he pursued a degree in Communication and Media Studies. He later attended the Buffalo Police Academy in 1989. He worked for nearly 30 years before retiring in 2018. Aaron would later take a job as a security guard at the Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, New York.
Aaron was married to his wife Kimberly Salter for 33 years. Of their union, three children were born, two daughters and one son.
Aaron The Inventor
“I’m always working on my vehicles and or my project of running engines on water for the last four years or so. “I would like to realize my dream of getting cars to run off of water using my newly discovered energy source some day.”
Quoted from Aaron Salter’s LinkedIn page
Aaron enjoyed creating and building things to solve problems. Before developing his Hydrogen Fuel System, Aaron built a solar collector to collect solar rays to heat his home. When gas prices increased to over $5.00 per gallon in 2011, Aaron started researching alternative energy sources. He searched the internet and found an article on electrolysis, the process by which electric current is passed through a substance to effect a chemical change, and learned how it could be used to power a vehicle using water. He purchased plans from the internet and attempted to fuel one of his cars using water. When the attempt proved unsuccessful, Aaron realized he would have to build a system consisting of different components such as a cooling and circulation system and attach it to a vehicle in order to achieve his goal.
He started his company, AWS Hydrogen Technologies, LLC and developed the AWS Hydrogen Fuel System. After building his Hydrogen generator, as he called it, Aaron created three prototypes he used on two different vehicles, a Ford F-150 and a Pontiac Fiero. The system proved to be most successful when paired with the 330 horsepower Ford F-150. Aaron was able to run the Ford F-150 with the gas shut off and without the use of electrolysis for 25 minutes. During one of his experiments, Aaron discovered that the vehicle could also be driven 30 to 35 miles per hour and could travel about an eighth of a mile.
During a 2015 interview, Aaron stated that his system could also be used to power homes, boats and other items that would typically require gasoline.
On July 23, 2015 Aaron was issued a patent for his method and system for using the by-product of electrolysis to power an engine. See the list of Aaron’s patents, both pending and granted, here.
Aaron the Hero
During a 2015 interview, Aaron stated he wanted to partner with a company to help him bring his AWS Hydrogen Fuel System to market. Sadly that dream would never come to pass. On May 14, 2022, 18-year old Payton Gendron, a white male, traveled over three hours, almost 200 miles, from Conklin, NY to the East Side neighborhood of Buffalo, NY, a predominantly black area, where he proceeded to shoot 60 rounds at shoppers at the Tops Friendly Market supermarket. During the rampage, survivors recounted hearing Gendron yelling racial slurs. Some time after Gendron entered the store, he encountered Aaron. Aaron shot at him but Gendron was wearing body armor and a military helmet. He returned fire at Aaron, killing him. Aaron was among the thirteen people shot and ten killed during the racist Buffalo mass shooting. Aaron has been hailed a hero for his bravery in attempting to stop the shooter.
Gendron allegedly conducted reconnaissance at the Tops Friendly Market before the shooting leading many to believe Aaron may have been targeted in an attempt to thwart any progress of his invention.
Aaron’s Legacy
To honor Aaron’s memory, retired Buffalo police officers and longtime friends Bradford Pitts, Earl Perrin and Nate Goldsmith founded a scholarship at Aaron’s former high school, Hutchinson-Central Technical High School. The $2,500 scholarship is awarded annually in Aaron’s name to a senior attending the high school.
At Aaron’s funeral, he was posthumously promoted to lieutenant and his family was presented with the Medal of Honor, the department’s highest measure of bravery.
Aaron was only one credit shy of receiving his college degree. In May 2022 after his death, Canisius College honored him with a diploma. His son, Aaron Salter III accepted the diploma on his behalf.
