Some more questions are getting answered surrounding Wednesday’s shooting where a Cheektowaga police officer shot and killed a man in North Buffalo during an attempted arrest.
Cheektowaga Police have identified the man who was killed by police gunfire as Hugh Davis, Jr., a 60-year-old of Buffalo. Cheektowaga Chief of Police Brian Coons said one of his officers fired their weapon, after Davis allegedly swiped a large knife at police. The four Cheektowaga officers were in the city of Buffalo to arrest Davis for an alleged assault at a Cheektowaga hotel, something Coons said New York state law allows them to do.
“The officers came into contact with Mr. Davis. [He] then lunged at the officers with a large knife, narrowly missing the first officer, and then swiped with a knife again, narrowly missing a second officer in the unprotected parts of the neck and chest," said Coons. "An officer was then forced to fire three rounds from their department issued nine millimeter handgun to stop Mr. Davis, as he was still holding the knife in hand and continuing to try and attack the officers.”
No officers were reported to have been physically injured in the confrontation.
Coons also went into some detail about the reason Cheektowaga Police were looking for Davis. It’s alleged he was a guest at a hotel on Genesee Street in the town, and got into a physical altercation with a staff member after he discovered damage fees were added to his bill, on Monday.
“A male employee confronted Mr. Davis at the front door trying to get him to leave. At that point, Mr. Davis turned, punched the male in the head, and he remains in the hospital in an induced coma," Coons said. "Following a thorough investigation that positively identified Mr. Davis, the officers then notified their supervision here and then inform the Buffalo Police Department that they were going to 269 Sanders to make that arrest.”
Cheektowaga Police are withholding body camera footage of the incident until it is viewed by Davis’ family. The department has shared it with the New York State Attorney General’s Office and Buffalo Police Department, who are conducting concurrent investigations into the shooting.
