Buffalo's mayor and police commissioner appear to have differing views on what's driving the violence that erupted over the 4th of July weekend.
While Police Commissioner Erika Shields, called it "a Buffalo issue," Mayor Sean Ryan earlier this week said the city was inundated by outsiders.
"This was youth from all over Erie County. There were Ubers dropping people off. There were people from the suburbs dropping off children," said Ryan.
Police Commissioner Shields, who said she was in Buffalo the entire weekend, amid speculation that she was out of town, has publicly apologized for comments suggesting teens from Lancaster were heavily involved in the weekend chaos in Buffalo.
"I'm sorry if that's how it came across," she told WIVB News 4.Buffalo. "The chief (Todd McAlister of E-District) was trying to make a point that we had many individuals converge on the city that were not from the city of Buffalo. We could tell by what they had on their vehicles and the Ubers coming in. But in no way do we want to isolate one jurisdiction or pick them as being the issue. This was a city of Buffalo incident and it's up to me to figure out how we get out of this so it doesn't occur again."
Shields also told News 4, that the investigation into the street takeover is progressing and she anticipates the so-called "promoter" will be arrested as well as individuals involved in the shootings. She did not say how many arrests are expected.
"In no way do we want to isolate one jurisdiction or pick them as being the issue. This was a city of Buffalo incident" - BPD Commissioner Erika Shields
"In no way do we want to isolate one jurisdiction or pick them as being the issue. This was a city of Buffalo incident" - BPD Commissioner Erika Shields
