Buddhist Prayers Offered for Victims

The Buddhist prayer was running non-stop on an overhead video monitor as Samantha Zhao, proprietor of an Asian gift shop next to the shuttered Wendy crime scene on Main Street in Flushing, spoke movingly of her friends next door who had been slaughtered execution style by two intruders last week.
"Its scary," Zhao said. "We closed at nine that night, but often we stay till eleven and so we were lucky." she told The Queens Courier.
In memory of her slain friends, Zhao said she was playing the Buddhist prayer video cassette — one of several Asian tapes she sells.
"The prayer is designed to help the soul when you are dead," she explained, brushing a tear away.
The Wendy site next door to the gift shop drew a large crowd who had turned it into a shrine. Michael Gringas, a Bayside school teacher, came to light one of dozens of candles illuminating the scene.
"I came here today because it seemed the right thing to do," he said. "I felt compelled to light a candle. Why did they have to shoot those helpless people?"
Across the street at McDonalds, Chwen Ko, the manager, said, "its very shocking being so close. Everybody is still coming to work, but it is very scary. It could just as easily have been our restaurant."
Mohammed Khalid who works at the nearby Flushing News Island called the location "such a peaceful place that you couldnt imagine something like that happening here. Its very frightening."
At the Dunkin Donuts fast food shop, David Mask said "many of the workers have been skeptical to come in. Its a very shocking and horrible situation."