New York Police Department A Tragic Liberation Body camera footage captured during a traffic stop shows the driver attempting to speed away from the officer while dragging him, before being shot and killed.
Also in the car was a 6-year-old child, a relative of the driver.
“Officers found themselves at significant risk of serious injury or death.”
The 19-minute video shows a Buffalo police officer speaking with the man during a traffic stop shortly after midnight Wednesday near Kensington and Poultney avenues.
The officer tells the man he was pulled over for speeding and having illegal tinted film on his car windows.
At one point, the child told the officer that it was his birthday, and the officer wished him a happy birthday.
The man told police the car was not his and he could not provide identification, but he had a photo of his Georgia ID on his phone.
The officer was unable to identify the man from the photograph and asked him to exit the vehicle, at which point he accelerated and attempted to flee, with the officer clinging to the side of the car.
“At this point, without any provocation or warning, the driver of the vehicle immediately put the vehicle into drive and accelerated at a very high rate of speed. The officer, who was grasping the top of the door, was unable to let go,” explained Buffalo Police Chief Joseph Gramaria.
In the video, an officer can be heard yelling at the driver, “Are you trying to kill me? Are you trying to kill me?”
Gramaria said the car accelerated to 60 mph before officers opened fire on the man.
“If you look at the video, it appears as if the driver is turning to the side and making almost a kicking motion. At this point, we can infer that the driver was trying to kick the driver off the side of the car,” he continued.
Officers shot the man five times and were able to gain control of the vehicle before both men fell from it, which rolled another 100 feet before coming to a stop.
The child was unharmed, and the officer suffered minor injuries and was released from hospital after treatment, police said.
Police have not yet identified the dead suspect, but WGRZ-TV reported that he has been identified as 25-year-old Davon Roberts.
Roberts is the half-brother of Jaylen Griffin, the 12-year-old boy whose body was found in the attic of a South Buffalo home in April after being missing for four years.
Roberts mentioned Griffin in the body camera video.
Gramaria said Thursday that based on the investigation, the shooting was justified.
“After reviewing the video and examining the evidence that we have, I believe the use of force that occurred the other night was justified,” he said. “Given the fact that officers were at significant risk of serious injury or death, the use of that level of force was justified in this incident.”
Police have not said whether Roberts’ actions are related to his half-brother’s death.
This is Scary video Buffalo Police Department announced.
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