Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Three Buffalo police officers were hit by gunfire Tuesday after a motorist fled a rush-hour traffic stop and led officers on a long chase through the city's streets, while shots fired from the vehicle blasted through windows of the pursuing patrol cars, authorities said.
The wild chase ended at an intersection in front of a police station, where officers shot and wounded the driver.
None of the officers' injuries were life-threatening, police said, and no civilians on the street were hit by the flying bullets. One officer was saved from serious harm by a bulletproof vest. The other two were expected to make a full recovery.
The wounded motorist was undergoing surgery.
"They have shot at numerous officers," an officer describing the scene over police radio. "Shots fired....officer hit," the chilling words of officers and dispatchers as heard via Broadcastify.
Many details of the chase were still being sorted out by investigators, but authorities said it began around 6 p.m. when a vehicle that had been pulled over for a traffic stop suddenly drove off, Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said.
As police pursued, the vehicle slowed to let someone out. After the passenger exited, gunfire started coming from the car.
Bullets continued to fly as officers chased the vehicle through the city, occasionally hitting their mark. One officer was hit in the arm. Another, in a different car, was wounded badly enough to require surgery. A third pursuing officer in another vehicle was hit in the vest.
A video posted on social media by one bystander showed officers taking defensive positions with weapons drawn behind vehicles as sirens wailed, and then opening fire at someone who couldn't be seen on camera.
Police said during a press briefing at ECMC that two suspects are in custody.
Mayor Byron Brown was at ECMC and visited with two of the officers who were shot and a third officer was recovering from surgery and listed in stable condition, according to the mayor.
"This was a very brazen situation," said Brown at ECMC. "A suspect shooting from a vehicle at police officers."
Two large volleys of gunfire followed, causing people at a nearby gas station to duck for cover.
Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said the extensive pursuit led police through Blackrock to the 33 expressway, Bailey Avenue into West Seneca before and ultimately ended back in the city near Jefferson and Ferry. "At numerus points along the way, the suspect vehicle continued opening fire, shooting at police vehicles," said Gramaglia.
One suspect was shot in an exchange of gunfire with police at Jefferson and Ferry and transported to ECMC for treatment. Another suspect who fled the vehicle at some point during the pursuit was also detained by police.
"These police officers are out there every day. Every day. And they are going into gunfire, literally," said Gramaglia.
Leslie Thomas, 64, lives in an apartment overlooking the scene. She was watching the news when she heard what turned out to be gunfire.
“I heard about 10 shots. I said ‘What’s going on?’ It didn’t dawn on me that it was shots but it kept repeating and repeating so I ran to my window,” she said. She saw numerous police cars, lights flashing and watched four police officers pull a man from a black vehicle and handcuff him. He appeared to fall to the street where several other officers surrounded him.
