What started as a mental health crisis turned into the shooting of a man by the Buffalo Police Department on Minnesota Avenue just before 11 p.m. Thursday night.
According to Acting Commissioner Craig Macy, Buffalo Police received a call that a 58-year-old man was threatening to kill a neighbor and personnel from American Medical Response — a private ambulance company that was on-site responding to an initial mental health emergency call.
Five BPD officers responded to the multiple-unit residence and, when two officers entered the residence, observed the individual holding two knives, according to Macy, who held a press conference Friday morning.
Following multiple deployments of a taser, which were not effective in subduing the individual, one officer fired two shots, hitting the man in the torso both times, Macy said.
The man was transported to ECMC, where he was pronounced dead.
Three officers have been placed on administrative leave and both the Buffalo Police Homicide Division and the office of the Attorney General have opened investigations into the event.
Macy said the man does not have a criminal history with the BPD and early indications are that he has been in the area for less than one year.
Macy added that there is body cam footage, and it will be released after the individual's family has the chance to watch it, estimating that the footage will be released to the public by the middle or end of next week at the earliest.
There were no other injuries reported on the scene.
Buffalo Police does have a Behavioral Health Team, which responds to incidents involving mental or behavior health concerns. However, it only operates Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Macy said AMR personnel have some of the same training, but added that any mental health incident that involves weapons is going to trigger an armed response, which includes police officers.
The man has not been publicly identified, Macy said, because next of kin has not yet been notified. According to audio archives on Broadcastify, the 911 call described the man as a "Black male wearing a blue or black sweatshirt."