The Cheektowaga Police Department has released body camera footage from officers at an attempted arrest on Sanders Road in North Buffalo that ended with an officer firing his weapon and killing the suspect, 60-year-old Hugh Davis Jr.
In the footage, three uniformed Cheektowaga police officers can be seen attempting to make contact with Davis. They knock on the door for several minutes, but receive no answer from anyone in the apartment.
The officers were there to make a summary arrest of Davis. He was accused of assaulting a Cheektowaga hotel employee just days prior to the fatal incident with police, on August 11. Cheektowaga Police Chief Brian Coons said his department notified the Buffalo Police Department they were entering the city to make an arrest, a common practice according to Coons.
Continuing to knock on the door without getting an answer, the door was getting progressively damaged, by which point one of the officers pushes and knocks part of the door down. It falls into the apartment, and officers continue to announce themselves as police.
The following footage contains graphic images, and may be disturbing to some viewers:
Davis emerges from the floor of the apartment and charges at officers through the doorway and into the narrow staircase area of the building's second-floor with a knife in hand. He swipes the knife toward an officer, before falling. The video shows officers instructing Davis to drop the knife, but he again attempts to slice one of the officers with it. Then, one of the officers fires his pistol three times at Davis, at nearly point-blank range.
Moments later, the Cheektowaga officers call for Buffalo police back-up, as well as emergency medical services. Before those additional units arrive, the officers begin first-aid on Davis. He was later declared dead at the scene.
No officers suffered physical injuries during the fatal encounter.
The Buffalo Police Department is investigating the shooting, as is the New York State Attorney General's Office. Under state law, they are called in when a civilian dies in an encounter with police.
A total of four Cheektowaga officers are under paid administrative leave, which is department policy for police shootings. An internal affairs investigation is also concurrently underway.
