On December 5, 2006, Buffalo Police Officer Patricia ’Patty’ Parete, then 48, and her partner Officer Carl Andolina responded to a fight at a downtown convenience store. Nineteen-year-old Varner Harris Jr. opened fire. Andolina was wounded; Parete was shot with a bullet that entered her chin and lodged in her spine, leaving her paralyzed from the neck down.

Parete lived with the consequences of that wound for more than six years. The community held fundraisers to help build a wheelchair-accessible home, and she expressed hope for recovery and a return to the force despite her anger over the attack. Varner Harris Jr. pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder and received a life sentence for the shooting.

On February 2, 2013, Parete died at age 48 from medical complications stemming from the 2006 gunshot wound; her death was ruled a homicide. Hundreds of law enforcement officers, first responders, and community members attended her funeral.