‘Tragic day’: 14-year-old girl killed, 5 teens hurt in Buffalo shooting

BUFFALO, N.Y. — A 14-year-old girl was killed and five teenage boys were wounded after a shooting in western New York late Saturday, authorities said.

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According to the Buffalo Police Department, officers responded to a report of a shooting near Alexander Place in Buffalo shortly before 11:30 p.m. EDT, WIVB-TV reported.

Officers discovered all six victims wounded in a parking lot, according to the television station. The teens’ ages ranged between 14 and 16, police said.

Buffalo police spokesperson Michael DeGeorge said the girl was taken to Oishei Children’s Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead, according to WGRZ-TV.

A 15-year-old boy was listed in critical condition at Erie County Medical Center, The Buffalo News reported. Two 15-year-old boys and a 16-year-old boy were also hospitalized and listed in stable condition, according to the newspaper. Another 16-year-old boy was grazed by gunfire but declined medical treatment at the scene, police said.

Saturday’s shooting occurred four blocks from the Tops Supermarket where a white supremacist killed 10 people and wounded three others in a racially motivated attack in 2022, the News reported.

“It has been a tragic day in the city of Buffalo,” Mayor Byron Brown said during a Sunday news conference. “No parents should have to deal with what these parents are dealing with now.”

On Sunday, police said that hundreds of teens were in the area for a large house party, WIVB reported. Police received a call about loud music at about 10:20 p.m. EDT, which was followed by a call about a fight 10 minutes later. Police dispersed the crowd over the next 30 minutes, according to the television station.

Buffalo police Chief of Detectives Craig Macy said the earlier fight is believed to be what sparked the shooting less than an hour later, the News reported.

“It’s getting ridiculous,” Anita Tate, who lives in the Bellamy Commons apartments near where the shots were fired, told the newspaper. “I hear pop, pop, pop, and that sounded too close.”

While Macy said the area was not a “problem spot” for police, Brown said the police would step up patrols in the neighborhood.

“The Buffalo Police are not going to rest on this. We are going to work as hard as we possibly can until we find the person or persons responsible for this,” Brown said.

The mayor also had a message for the shooter or shooters in the incident.

“If you have any conscience or any remorse that you killed a 14-year-old girl, you should contact the Buffalo police and turn yourself in,” Brown told reporters. “This is a senseless crime. To open fire on a group of children absolutely makes no sense whatsoever.”

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