Shootings, homicides increase in Buffalo over first six months of 2020

More people have been killed in Buffalo in the first six months of 2020 than over the same period since at least 2007, according to a Buffalo News analysis of Buffalo Police Department data.

And the number of people who were shot in Buffalo from the start of the year through the end of June is 54% higher than over the same time period last year, according to Buffalo Police Department statistics.

Police officials in Buffalo point to many factors. They say it is not just the usual spike in crimes that accompanies warmer weather.

The pandemic is playing a role, said Buffalo Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood.

With few places open to gather and strict social distancing measures being imposed for bars and nightclubs, many young people are congregating at "pop-up" parties in parking lots, vacant lots and out on streets.

"What happens is you get a bunch of people there and you have some people drinking, some people having a good time and then the next thing you know, something sets it off and then people start pulling guns out and shooting," Lockwood said.

As parties "pop up," people post about them on social media and they can quickly draw crowds of 200 to 300 people.

"We've had very large gatherings in all the districts – East Side, downtown at the Erie Marina Basin, Shoshone Park, the foot of Ferry," said Deputy Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia.

At least five shootings in June happened at pop-up parties. Two people have been killed in shootings that erupted at these parties and 10 more people were wounded. Among those killed last month was Dayana Jackson, a 21-year-old Buffalo woman.

"She was an innocent 21-year-old girl who had her life taken from her far too soon," Gramaglia said.

The pandemic also shut down all but the most urgent court proceedings, leaving many cases in limbo.

"No grand juries are being run," Gramaglia said of state court. "We had a shooting victim recently who pled guilty to a gun charge last September but was not sentenced because courts were closed in March."

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There's also been feuding between gangs, police said.

"There's a lot of retaliation and a lot of scores being settled," Gramaglia said.

Buffalo police also say that new bail reform laws that went into effect on Jan. 1 are a factor. The sweeping new criminal justice reforms meant that people arrested on most misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies would not have to post bail and instead be released on a court appearance ticket. It also gave more leeway to judges to offer different kinds of bail for defendants in more serious cases.

"We have people being arrested multiple times for guns," Gramaglia said.

A rise in shootings, homicides

One-hundred twenty people either were injured or killed in shootings in Buffalo through June 30, according to Buffalo police statistics. In the first six months of 2019, that number was 78.

The 41 people shot in the month of June alone made it the month with the most shootings of any single month since at least 2015, according to a News analysis of police data.

From Jan. 1 through the end of June, 32 people were killed in the city, according to Buffalo and NFTA Transit police.

In 2019, there were 17 homicides in Buffalo over the first half of the year. Over the 10-year period from 2010 through last year, the city averaged nearly 21 homicides from January through June, according to the News' analysis.

Over a more recent span, there's been an uptick in killings. The average number of people killed each January through June between 2015 and 2019 was nearly 27.

Buffalo's second-highest homicide total over the last 14 years came three years ago when 29 people were killed over the first six months of the year.

Buffalo's homicide totals for January and June were the second-highest since for either month since at least 2007.

Buffalo police have investigated or are investigating 31 of the killings. The other homicide – the killing of a 17-year-old girl at the downtown bus station on May 29 – was investigated by the transit police. A 17-year-old girl has been charged with manslaughter in the teen's death, according to a spokeswoman for the Erie County District Attorney's Office.

In terms of total shootings through six months, the only year in the last five years with more shootings than this year was 2016. That was when 146 people were either injured or killed in shootings from January through June.

Of the 41 people shot in Buffalo last month, the average age of the victims was 29, according to police department data.

Nationally so far this year, homicides were up about 22%, according to an analysis of police data from 36 cities with populations greater than 250,000 published by The New York Times' The Upshot.

Trying to solve cases, preventing future violence

Making arrests in recent shootings has proved difficult. None of the June or July shootings have resulted so far in arrests, police acknowledged.

At the scenes of the pop-up parties where shootings have erupted, witnesses have been reluctant to come forward.

"There are 200, 300 people out there. Somebody sees something. Somebody knows something. We need them to come forward," Lockwood said.

There's also been hostility toward police when they respond to the shootings. At the Koons Avenue scene, a woman "started swinging" at a female officer as she was trying to get to the shooting victim, who later died. Officers carried the victim to a corner to get her to a fire truck and ambulance, Gramaglia said.

Last year, police were starting to see success in solving crimes related to gun violence, Gramaglia said. At the end of June 2019, shootings were down 33%.

Gramaglia pointed to efforts by the department to work with the community to improve relations as well as the formation of the gun violence unit which focused specifically on nonfatal shootings.

"They worked really hard at it. Our officers are very involved in community events on and off duty and they're still committed to it," Gramaglia said.

There's also been an increase in shooting victims being brought to hospitals in civilian vehicles, rather than waiting for ambulances. 

"Which makes finding scene locations difficult, especially when you're dealing with uncooperative victims," Gramaglia said. On Monday,  two of three people shot within an hour and a half of each other showed up at hospitals in civilian vehicles.

Lockwood said his officers are trying to prevent more shootings while at the same time implementing new policies following weeks of Black Lives Matter protests, some drawing thousands, in Buffalo.

Buffalo police officers have been told to give out more appearance tickets at scenes of arrests – rather than handcuffing defendants and bringing them to Central Booking to be processed. City police are also no longer supposed to use the smell of marijuana as justification for searching a vehicle following a traffic stop. And they're getting ready to start a new behavioral health unit where police will be paired with social workers to respond to mental health crisis situations.

Police are patrolling neighborhoods and keeping an eye on areas that have attracted the pop-up parties. They're also concentrated on getting illegal guns off the street. Two weeks ago, three raids in the city yielded nine guns and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

"Regardless of the situation that's happening in the city, we're still answering calls," Lockwood said.