Local leaders are very concerned after a recent pattern of Buffalo Police Department not releasing reports of gun-related incidents.
State Senator April Baskin is among those who has been extremely vocal about lack of transparency after a gun incident the afternoon of June 17 at Tops Friendly Markets on Jefferson Avenue. She said in a written statement that improved transparency is needed when it comes to keeping the public informed.
“The public was informed very quickly about the shooting at Canalside last week. Similarly, the Buffalo Police Department regularly issues press statements about burglary arrests and traffic incidents," Baskin said. "A gun-related incident near the site of one of Buffalo’s worst tragedies should have received the same level of urgency.”
It is the same location where May 2022’s racist mass shooting occurred, but police say there’s no indication this incident was hate-related.
Police released a public statement on June 27, but only after WIVB ran an investigative story about the incident.
According to a police report, Avello A. Pena and Ronnie Midgett were arrested on charges including assault, criminal possession of a loaded weapon and resisting arrest.
Pena and Midgett allegedly brandished an unregistered pistol at a victim in the store, while passing the gun back and forth between them.
