Cheektowaga, N.Y. (WBEN) - In the days following a fatal officer-involved shooting involving members of the Cheektowaga Police Department in North Buffalo, officials on Monday released the body camera footage from the incident on Wednesday, Aug. 13.
Four officers with the Cheektowaga Police Department were sent to 269 Sanders Road just before 12:30 p.m. last week Wednesday to conduct a summary arrest of 60-year-old Hugh Davis Jr. for felony assault, felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor menacing for an incident that occurred at a hotel on Genesee Street in the Town of Cheektowaga on Monday, Aug. 11.
Cheektowaga Police Chief Brian Coons reiterated once again on Monday that his officers have the authority, both procedurally and legally, to make an arrest for a crime anywhere within New York State, traveling to another jurisdiction for that purpose of making the arrest.
"Officers had parked the patrol vehicles on the street in front of the apartment building, and ascended to the stairs of the second story using a shared common hallway to contact Mr. Davis at apartment No. 4. Buffalo Police dispatchers had been informed that the officers will be at 269 Sanders Road for the purpose of making an arrest," said Chief Coons, as he described the scene before the video's release. "When officers attempted to contact Mr. Davis, the center of the door to the apartment became dislodged and fell into the apartment. Mr. Davis met officers at the doorway, and as Mr. Davis was exiting through the doorway of the apartment, he lunged at the officers with a large knife, narrowly missing the officer closest to him. Mr. Davis swung the knife a second time, almost striking an officer near their unprotected neck and chest area. Our officer was forced to use a department-issued handgun to stop Mr. Davis by firing three times."
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After being struck by gunfire, Chief Coons says Davis fell to the landing of the stairway and dropped the knife out of his hand.
"At this point of the video, you will see that the officers believe that another person is maybe in the apartment. No one else was ever located in the apartment," Coons noted. "Officers called for an ambulance and began life-saving measures. The video being released today ends before officers start CPR, with the assistance of an AED until they were relieved by members of the Buffalo Fire and Buffalo Police. Mr. Davis was pronounced dead at the location of the incident."
Coons adds all original body-worn camera footage has been sent unedited to the Buffalo Police Department and the investigators of the New York State Attorney General's Office. The Buffalo Police Department and the New York State Attorney General's Office are handling the investigation into this incident with the full cooperation of the Cheektowaga Police Department.
"The Cheektowaga Police Department recognizes and respects the integrity and value of human life, and the decision to use deadly physical force is the most important decision that a police officer will make in the course of their career," Coons said. "The use of deadly physical force will emotionally, physically and psychologically impact the officer involved, the person the deadly physical force was directed at, the family and friends of both, and the community as well."
Coons also says the department will not yet draw any conclusions about whether the officers acted consistently with its policies and the law until better understanding the incident, having all the facts and fully concluding the investigation into the shooting.
All four officers involved in the shooting remain on paid administrative leave, as per department policy.
The summary arrest stems from an incident where Davis Jr. was in a hotel room on Genesee Street and broke the TV in his room. He was being evicted from the room, and the manager or clerk provided him with the bill for his stay and for the TV. Although Davis Jr. left, he soon returned to the hotel after he noticed the price of the TV was on there. From there, an argument ensued and he became irate.
"Took the computer monitors, was throwing it at the clerk, the credit card machine, the phones and so forth were all thrown at the clerk, forcing her to retreat into the back room and seek safety back there. At that point, a male employee came and tried to escort Mr. Davis out the door, at which point, Mr. Davis turned and punched the male employee, rendering him unconscious," Chief Coons said. "He was transported to the hospital, where he was put into an induced coma, and the injuries beyond that, I don't have that information."
Coons says the department met with Davis Jr.'s family to show them the footage on Sunday.
You can view the entirety of the body cam footage below:
* - WARNING: THIS FOOTAGE CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE AND CONTENT. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.