Buffalo, NY (WBEN) New York Attorney General Letitia James’ Office of Special Investigation (OSI) is today issuing a Notification of Investigative Findings regarding the investigation into the death of Hugh Davis, who died on August 13, 2025 following an encounter with Cheektowaga Police Department officers in Buffalo. James says her office has concluded that a prosecutor would not be able to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that the officer’s use of deadly physical force was justified under the law.
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James says officers arrived at Davis’ Buffalo apartment in August to arrest him for an alleged previous assault in Cheektowaga. Upon arrival at the apartment, officers announced themselves and knocked on the door. After repeated knocking, the door panel fell into the apartment. Davis lunged through the doorway beneath the fallen panel with a knife in his hand and began swinging the knife at the officers. Davis stumbled, rolled, and nearly swiped an officer as officers repeatedly instructed him to drop the knife. Davis ignored commands to drop the knife, and an officer discharged his service weapon, striking Davis, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers recovered a large kitchen knife at the scene.
The incident was captured on officers’ body-worn cameras.
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