BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) An off duty Buffalo firefighter is hospitalized in critical condition after suffering a head injury at the Blackthorn Restaurant and Pub on Seneca Street in South Buffalo over St. Patrick's Day weekend.
"I really don't have a clear picture of how the incident happened," Erie County District Attorney John Flynn told WBEN. "I can't even say if it was a fight. All I know is that the victim, a Buffalo firefighter, somehow fell and hit his head on the ground. Now he's in the hospital in critical condition."
Flynn is pleading with people who were at the bar Saturday around 5:30pm to come forward and tell what happened.
"We're not getting great cooperation from people who were present at the bar that day. It's my understanding that there were a number of people who were there, not only firefighters, but others who were reveling in the St. Patrick's Day weekend."
Flynn said he doesn't want to equate the situation to a shooting or homicide when individuals in different neighborhoods refrain from coming forward. But the end result, he said, is very similar. An individual is in critical medical condition.
"It frustrates me," said Flynn. "I've got a wife whose husband is in the hospital. and a mother whose son is in the hospital. They want answers.
And if I have to drag everyone in from the bar to find out, I'm going to do it."
There is no surveillance video from the Blackthorn. But there is a chance that someone has cell phone video. As of now, Flynn says he hasn't seen any. "I'm pleading with anyone who has video to call the Buffalo Police or my office (Erie County District Attorney) and let us know."
