Buffalo · French and Kerr · Shooting

Five Men Trade Long-Gun Fire Outside a Store at French and Kerr; Eight Casings and Blood Found on the Street

A caller watched five males shooting at each other; officers arriving found shell casings, blood, and a crash at the back of ECMC they suspected was tied to the gunfire.

Yesterday at about 9:51 PM, a Buffalo dispatcher put out a shots-fired call at French and Kerr, relaying that a caller “saw five males shooting at each other outside the store”, according to the radio traffic. There was no description of the males and, at first, no word whether anyone had been hit.

Officers pulling up confirmed the worst of it. “We're going to have shell casings on the street”, one unit reported, followed moments later by “And there's some blood out here too right now”. Dispatch asked ECMC to keep a heads-up in case another victim drove up.

An officer on scene reported a long gun had been used, with about eight shell casings counted in the street, according to the traffic. Minutes later a unit flagged a car crash at the back end of ECMC that officers believed was the driver connected to the shooting, and a drive-up victim struck by gunfire was noted at the hospital.

↗ Related: concurrent

Hamburg · Route 5 · Armed Pursuit

Hamburg Pursuit Roars Through a Walmart Lot and Down Route 5, Ending With a Cruiser Struck and Sticks in the Road

Officers chased a fleeing vehicle at highway speed through parking lots and toward FedEx before it rear-ended two cars and hit a marked unit.

Yesterday evening, beginning about 8:26 PM, Hamburg police tracked a fleeing vehicle westbound on Route 20, holding back until a marked unit could join before lighting it up, according to the radio traffic. The chase cut through a Walmart parking lot — “We're going through the parking lot”, an officer called out — then swung onto Rogers toward Route 5.

Units clocked the pursuit at 83 miles an hour in light conditions before slowing, according to the traffic. Then came the crash: “He hit us. They hit us. I'm stuck. I'm in George 5”, one shaken officer transmitted, reporting he was stuck in his unit after the suspect rear-ended two cars.

The pursuit continued westbound on Route 5 toward a town park and into the FedEx property, where officers called repeatedly for stop sticks — “Good time for sticks, good time for sticks” — before the vehicle went down in a ditch, according to the traffic. Lackawanna police assisted, and the digest indicates occupants were taken into custody.

Cattaraugus County · Nichols Run Road · Entrapment Crash

Man Pulled From a Wrecked Car on Nichols Run Road Unconscious and Not Breathing as a Helicopter Shuts the Road Down

A single-vehicle crash near Knapp Creek brought extrication crews and, after two air ambulances were grounded by weather, a LifeNet helicopter from out of the area.

Yesterday afternoon, at about 4:41 PM, Cattaraugus County dispatched an ALS-priority motor-vehicle crash at 4517 Nichols Run Road, described as a one-car MVA with a single male patient entrapped in the vehicle, unconscious but breathing, according to the radio traffic. A caller quickly relayed that extrication equipment would be necessary.

As crews worked, a deputy on location reported the patient's breathing had become agonal and that he was no longer conscious, according to the traffic. Dispatchers ran through their air-medical options and hit a wall: both Stat MedEvac and Mercy Flight were red due to weather, so they turned to a LifeNet helicopter out of Hornell.

LifeNet 77 was given a 24-minute ETA once airborne while availability was still being checked, according to the traffic. Fire crews reported everyone out of the vehicle, and the roadway at Nichols Run was shut down for the helicopter to land. The scanner did not broadcast the patient's condition after transport.

Lackawanna · Route 5 · Rollover Arrest

Rollover Near Route 5 Ends With an Occupant Held at Gunpoint and Three in Custody

A vehicle came to rest on its roof near Odell as officers took three parties into custody, one at gunpoint.

Yesterday evening, around 8:30 PM, Lackawanna police reported a rollover accident near the Premium Coffee lot off Odell, along the Route 5 corridor, according to the radio traffic. The wreck came in the same window as a Hamburg-led pursuit that had run toward Route 5, and the two appear tied together.

Officers reported one occupant held at gunpoint and three parties taken into custody at the scene, according to the traffic. The Hamburg side of the same effort had described the fleeing vehicle's occupants as armed. The scanner did not broadcast the extent of any injuries.

↗ Related: same_incident

Amherst · Vehicle Pursuit · Cornered Suspect

Cheektowaga-Registered Pursuit Ends With Suspect Ditching a White Audi and Cornered Inside a Neighbor's Driveway

The vehicle, out of Cheektowaga, came to rest in a residential driveway after an occupant ran into a house early this morning.

Early this morning, beginning about 1:48 AM, an Amherst police pursuit involving a white Audi out of Cheektowaga ended in a residential driveway, according to the radio traffic. The car was located after an occupant had entered a nearby house.

The pursuit followed earlier suspicious-vehicle reports on the same channel describing a white Audi with occupants switching seats, according to the traffic. The scanner did not broadcast an arrest total or the nature of any charges.

Buffalo · Niagara Street · Car Into Building

Car Slams Into a Niagara Street Gas Station and Smokes, Drawing a Structural Collapse Team

A single-vehicle crash at a gas station near Niagara Street sent the car into the building, with the wreck reported smoking on arrival.

Early this morning, around 1:44 AM, Buffalo Fire responded to a car into a building at a gas station near Niagara Street, according to the radio traffic. The vehicle had struck the building and was reported smoking, prompting a collapse-team response along with an ambulance and police.

The traffic described it as a one-car motor-vehicle accident, according to the radio traffic. The scanner did not broadcast the extent of injuries or the building damage.

GLOW · Warsaw · A Firehouse Farewell

The Wires Fall Silent: Wyoming County Stops the Day to Mourn a 75-Year Firefighter

Yesterday at 6:05 PM, amid the usual run cards and station tones, Warsaw dispatch keyed up with something heavier: “with heavy heart, the Wyoming Hook and Ladder Company announces the passing of 75-year-old member Alan Capwell”, according to the radio traffic.

Dispatch relayed a firefighter service set for Sunday at a Warsaw funeral home, asking all firefighters to assemble in full dress, according to the traffic. For one long transmission, the county's business gave way to a goodbye.

Amherst · Getzville · The Spider Did It

Case of the Vassar Drive CO Alarm Cracked: A Spider Was Sitting on the Detector

Yesterday at about 6:18 PM, Getzville fire units were paged for a carbon-monoxide detector activation at 57 Vassar Drive, with no voice contact from anyone on site, according to the radio traffic. Crews staged, unable to reset an ongoing alarm, and dispatch paged for a fire company to respond.

Then the mystery resolved itself. The alarm company called back, according to the traffic: “They made contact with someone on site, said there was a spider on the detector. They've since removed the detector, likely causing the alarm”. All Getzville units were held in quarters.

Buffalo · Coolidge Road · Steam, Again

Shower Steam Trips Yet Another Fire Alarm, and Engine 4 Barely Blinks

Yesterday at about 8:23 PM, a supplementary signal went out for a commercial fire alarm at 140 Coolidge Road, drawing an engine, a ladder and a battalion chief, according to the radio traffic. Engine 4 arrived, investigated, and delivered the verdict crews already half-expected: “Set off by steam from the shower. Handle”.

Dispatch calmly confirmed the finding and cut the rest loose. On a night with real gunfire elsewhere on the wires, this one closed with the fire radio's driest shrug — steam from a shower, handled.

WNY · BNIA · The Hunt for the Hockey Stick

A Hockey Stick Goes Missing Off Flight 580, and Two Tugs Join the Chase

Yesterday afternoon, around 3:21 PM, a United ramp crew at Buffalo-Niagara worked the day's great mystery over the air, according to the radio traffic: “Hockey stick. It came off Flight 580”. Two baggage tugs were reportedly involved in tracking it down.

The crew rattled off tag numbers and, in the moment's most quietly human line, noted a colleague's absence — “Sadie's not even here” — before getting back to the search.

Cattaraugus County · Allegheny · The 10-Minute Challenge

Off the Run Cards but On the Way: A Crew Dubs Itself the '10-Minute Challenge'

Yesterday at about 4:52 PM, in the middle of a serious crash response, a Cattaraugus dispatcher noted a unit that had turned up unbidden, according to the radio traffic: “They did not appear on the run cards. They're the 10-minute challenge”.

It was a small bit of gallows humor threaded through a call that was anything but funny — a crew that wasn't on the assignment sheet, giving itself a name and getting to work.

↗ Related: same_incident

Buffalo · Elmwood Avenue

Man Accused of Choking Woman During Elmwood Avenue Domestic Call

Yesterday at 9:39 PM, Buffalo Police dispatch relayed a domestic call at 300 Elmwood, across from a 7-Eleven, first described as a couple fighting; within seconds dispatch updated units that a man was choking the woman and holding her down, describing him in a black hoodie and her in a pink shirt and jeans.

An officer asked to be made primary on the call as backup rolled in, and by 9:43 PM dispatch reported the immediate area quiet with nothing further visible, though officers said they were holding onto a man on scene while they sorted out details.

Cheektowaga · Edgebrook Drive

Manic Episode Leaves Edgebrook Apartment Trashed, Vague Threats Reported

Yesterday at 11:40 PM, Cheektowaga Police sent a car to 62 Edgebrook, apartment 6, off Union Road, for a welfare check after a caller said her best friend was in the middle of a manic episode, had trashed his apartment, and made vague comments that he wasn't going to make it through the night before she lost contact with him by phone; a second unit was added for cover.

Both units cleared the address minutes later, with dispatch confirming all locations had been checked.

Warsaw · Saltvale Road

Car Flips Onto Railroad Tracks Near Burke Hill, Injuring One

Yesterday at 8:38 PM, Wyoming County fire dispatch sent Warsaw companies to the Saltvale Road railroad crossing past Burke Hill for a one-vehicle accident, reporting the car had landed on its roof on the tracks with two occupants aboard and injuries unknown.

A mutual-aid engine, Matic 80, was sent to respond precautionary in case Warsaw couldn't crew up, and the first unit on scene, Warsaw 501, reported the vehicle partially on the tracks with both occupants already out of the car.

By 8:47 PM, crews had signed off one patient — a woman with abdominal pain and a wrist injury — for a possible transport, and confirmed the railroad had been notified before clearing the scene.

Genesee County · Lewiston Road

Second Ambulance Rushed to Applebee's After Teen's Medical Emergency Escalates

Yesterday at 4:34 PM, Genesee County fire dispatch sent Mercy Medic 1 to the Applebee's at 8322 Lewiston Road for a 19-year-old woman with trouble breathing and abdominal pain, with the patient told to wait out front of the restaurant.

A rescue unit, R2, was on scene by 4:44 PM for what dispatch termed an unknown local problem, and minutes later Medic 1 requested a second ambulance, Mercy Medic 2, respond to the same address on an emergency basis for an additional call.