The WNY Listening Post

Lacrosse Stick to the Chest Sends a 14-Year-Old On-and-Off Consciousness at Westmoreland Field

Amherst Fire and Williamsville Central’s grounds crew share a 6:56 p.m. dispatch — “Is this during your lacrosse game?” the PD asks moments later.

At 6:56 p.m., Amherst Fire dispatch called an EMS run to 4301 Main Street — Williamsville Central High — for “a 14-year-old female, in and out of consciousness, after being struck in the chest” on the Westmoreland Field, the lacrosse field on the Berryman Drive / Washington Highway side of the campus.^[1][2] Amherst PD picked up the call moments later and confirmed the mechanism on the air: “Struck in the chest by a lacrosse stick, in and out of consciousness.”^[3] A two-radio supervisor circled back at 6:58 with the only question that mattered to everyone listening: “Two Radio, is this during your lacrosse game?”

Two-Car Wreck on the Boulevard at Edward White Closes All of Southbound — Some Parties Ran

Airbags deployed at 9:57 p.m.; by 10:02 a sergeant had “the entirety of Southbound Boulevard” locked off and was looking for the people who walked away from the second car.

Amherst PD called an intersection collision at Boulevard and Edward White at 9:57 p.m. — “Two cars and it looks like airbags are deployed.”^[4] The complaining party was originally not seeking medical, but by 10:00 was “complaining of neck and elbow pain,” and the fire department got the page.^[5] A minute later the call took an interesting turn: “The other people involved ran away, so I’m just going to go check on that car and see if it’s occupied. It’s just down the street.”^[6] By 10:02, the supervisor had Lincoln-Union-Victor-9179 logged on the abandoned vehicle and announced he was closing “the entirety of Southbound Boulevard.”^[7] Mill Creek 9 and Twin City 237 rolled from the Boulevard-and-290 mutual-aid box for one transport to ECMC; debris cleanup, a struck no-standing sign, and a Mary-Boy-Union front-seat passenger ID followed.^[8]

Motorcyclist Goes Down on the 290 West Exit 5B Ramp, Right After the First Curve — Helmet On, Dislocated Shoulder, Tow for the Kawasaki

A 5:40 p.m. PDO becomes a two-vehicle MVA inside a minute; the rider is helmeted and conscious, but the bike isn’t going anywhere on its own.

An Amherst PD unit cut off to the 290 westbound at 5:40 p.m. on a report of “a motorcyclist accident involving a car” west of Miller Sport,^[9] and quickly narrowed the scene to “290 westbound on the exit ramp for 5B, right after the first curve.”^[10] By 5:47, the on-scene officer had the rider’s story tight: helmet on, complaining of a dislocated shoulder and road rash on his right arm, with a black Kawasaki bearing New York plate 975-Charlie-Edward-2 needing a tow.^[11] Amherst Fire opted to hold the rescue once injuries downgraded to a single complaint.

Same Person Pulls the Alarm Twice in Two Hours at the Western New York DDSO Group Home on New Road — And Amherst Fire Gets the Wrong Cottage on Try One

A 5:50 p.m. alarm activation at 371 New Road is followed at 6:08 by a building-name correction (“there’s no Wyndham, it’s Witcham”) and then at 7:53 by an exact repeat of the original pull, by the same individual.

Amherst Fire dispatched on a fire-line activation at 371 New Road — the Western New York DDSO group home complex between Old Oak Post Road and Autumn Meadows Lane — at 5:50 p.m., naming the building as the Wyndham Cottage.^[12] An on-scene Amherst PD officer corrected the building name eighteen minutes later and the correction is fun on the air: “The fire department has the wrong building. There’s no Wing-Ham. It’s Witch-Ham — W-I-T with a G — Witcham Cottage, apartment with a G.”^[13] The crew reset, marked the alarm avoidable, and went back in service — only to be paged back at 7:53 with the dispatcher’s editorial flat in the air: “This is the malicious pull from the same individual as earlier. Avoidable alarm.”^[14]

“Very Large Uncontrolled Burn” of Organic Material on Stage Road, Newstead — Code Enforcement Called on the Cell at Home

11872 Stage Road, between Havenwood Drive and Haven Road, at 10:34 p.m. — Newstead 3 responds, the fire is “about 100 feet,” and the chief asks for code enforcement before he even has water on the ground.

Amherst Fire dispatched a field-fire call at 10:34 p.m. — “a report of a fire in a field across from 11872 Stage Road” — with Newstead Engine 3 responding.^[15] The dispatcher upgraded the language on the second pass: “Newstead, report of a fire in our field. Very large uncontrolled burn, organic material.”^[16] Once on scene, the size estimate landed at “about 100 feet” and the IC asked dispatch to chase the town code enforcement officer at home: “Can you get a hold of code enforcement for me, too, please?”^[17] The officer’s cell rang minutes later.

Foot Pursuit Through Backyards Near Maynard and Crosby — “Three Black Males, All Black Except for One Larger Male Wearing Gray”

2:29 a.m. Amherst PD — juveniles ducked into a yard at the little traffic circle, then checking cars and door handles on the next street over.

An Amherst PD unit asked another to meet him at the “little traffic circle” at Maynard and Crosby at 2:29 a.m., describing a couple of juveniles who had “just randomly duck[ed] into what appears to be a yard right here.”^[18] A minute later he upgraded the call: “He’s checking doors. They jumped the fence behind 174. They’re on the next street over. I can see him checking cars and turning into vehicles. Send me a couple more.”^[19] Description on the air at 2:31: “Three black males, all black except for one larger male wearing gray.”^[20] No arrest is audible in the window.

906 Charles Gate Underage Party Ends With a Firework, Erratic Circling, and a Broken Back Window on the Dispersal

An 11:09 p.m. neighborhood complaint stack of an underage drinking party, kids “driving around erratically in circles,” and a firework that “went off in the area of 554.”

Amherst PD was handed a Charles Gate Circle stack at 11:09 p.m.: “Top 40. A couple of calls up there. One is a possible underage drinking party. 906 Charles Gate. Follow-up call says there’s a bunch of kids in the neighborhood driving around erratically in circles. And possibly a firework that went off in the area of 554.”^[21] The dispersal didn’t go entirely cleanly: at 11:47, a unit standing by to make sure the partygoers got home reported, “The party is dispersed. Someone just broke her back window.”^[22]

Welfare Check on a Two-Year-Old at 263 Traverse Circle, Apt C — Caller Said Her Name Was Megan, the Phone Came Back to Madison Rick, and a Male With History Was Already There

2:11 a.m. Amherst PD — address comes back mapping to South Park Avenue, Buffalo; cousin lives there with a two-year-old; man identified on dispatch as James Casey has “history with the complaint.”

At 2:11 a.m. Amherst PD opened a self-care welfare check on 263 Traverse Circle, apartment C: “Plane mapping to South Park Avenue, Buffalo. Dates her cousin, and the two-year-old that lives there is in the apartment, and there’s a male there, James Casey, has history with the complaint. Gave her name as Megan; however, the phone number comes back to Madison Rick.”^[23] No transport audible in the window.

Delta Ramp at BNIA, 6:13 a.m.: “Negative, Batman.”

Two words. A pre-flight refusal so complete the man on the other end did not bother to argue. We never learn what Batman wanted. We do know he did not get it.^[24]

FRS 16, 8:59 p.m.: “Some Ice Cream. I Think I Might Go Try to Find Me Some.”

The voice of every Western New Yorker reaching the back end of a 75° May night.^[25] Hand-held radio, neighbor talking to neighbor, ten-watt range. We did not catch the name of the operator. He found, presumably, the ice cream.

5:13 a.m. at the Airport: One Shuttle Captain Files a Bathroom Request While, On a Parallel Channel, a Coworker Named Thomas Is Wished Happy Birthday

On the TPS BNIA Shuttle dispatch, the night man got tired of holding his post: “Yes, and if somebody wants to relieve me so I can go to the bathroom, please.”^[26] At literally the same minute on United Ramp: “You happy birthday. Oh my god. Happy birthday Thomas.”^[27] One man got cake. One man got a relief driver, presumably. The radios cannot say.

A CSX Belt Line Argument We Will Never Get to Hear in Full

At 10:05 p.m., a CSX conductor on the Belt Line transmitted the most aggrieved sentence on the night’s scanner: “You’re not as important as I am, why don’t you have to say anything to yourself?”^[28] Five minutes later, the coda — flat, devastating, also broadcast: “You’re anonymous.”^[29] Whoever had been on the other side did not respond on this frequency, which is, presumably, the point.

Buffalo Niagara Ground Control, 6:31 a.m., Open Mic and All Out of Patience: “What Do You Mean, I Do?”

The ramp had asked for something. The tower considered it. Then the tower asked for clarification.^[30]

Tonawanda Dispatch Spends Thirty Minutes on a “Leaking Diesel Truck” Before Discovering It Is Just Dropped Off for Service

At 2:53 a.m., Tonawanda Fire dispatch took a call about a diesel truck reportedly leaking fluid in front of the garage door at Apex Graphics.^[31] The fire department staged. A unit was sent. A code enforcement message was left. At 3:24 a.m., the dispatcher closed the loop: “You’re clear. Apparently the truck is parked there to have some work done at the shop later.”^[32]

Wyoming County Fire, 9:29 p.m. — Single-Word Transmission, Whole Broadcast: “Algebra.”

That was it. That was the entire transmission. Wyoming County Fire 1 keyed up at 21:29:08 and said the word “algebra.”^[33] It is the only Wyoming County Fire transmission with semantic content for the entire window. The dispatcher did not follow up. Neither do we.

4:25 a.m. at the 4505 Main 7-Eleven: A “Highly Intoxicated” Customer Is Refused Alcohol and Drives Off, Westbound on Main, “Saying He Was Going Back to College”

Amherst PD ran the BOLO at 4:25: dark blue or black sedan, Hispanic male in a gray t-shirt, last seen westbound on Main, saying he was going back to college.^[34] The clerk — the only sober character in this story — called it in herself.

A Mother Calls Amherst PD at 5:53 a.m.: Her 15-Year-Old Daughter Has Been Journaling Under the Bridge at North Forest and Indian Trail Since 1 A.M.

The mother gave dispatch the full context: mental health history, alone, four-and-a-half hours under the bridge, in her own words, writing.^[35] Amherst PD put a unit on it and a 7-and-1/2 cover behind that one. We do not know what was in the journal.

FRS 16, 8:26 p.m. — Two Words: “Red-Headed Capstress.”

Hyper-local, hyper-cryptic, hyper-personal.^[36] One of FRS’s most concentrated payloads. We salute her, whoever she is.

Wyoming County Sheriff, 8:08 p.m., Mid-Sentence: “And Once It Turned on It, It Has Crashed.”

No further context. No follow-up segment. The transmission everyone hoped they were not hearing.^[37]

Cargill Grain Elevator, Buffalo Waterfront, 11:38 p.m.: Buffalo Fire Dispatched on Report of “Part of a Person Struck by the Train”

Single BFD Ch. 1 transmission — no follow-up audible in the window.

BFD Ch. 1 dispatch transmitted at 23:38: “Near the Cargill grain elevator for a part of a person struck by the train.”^[38] Based on the radio chatter, this appears to be a dispatch direction rather than a confirmed event on scene; no further BFD update on this incident is audible in the rest of the window. Readers should treat the framing as the dispatcher’s words pending follow-up.

Two Children Reported Trapped in an Elevator at Number Two Salvatore’s Plaza, Near Hyatt Regency — BFD Sends Rescue 1 and Ladder 40

At 10:22 p.m., BFD Ch. 1 dispatch called “a report of kids trapped in the elevator at number two Salvatore’s Plaza, height regency, between Pearl,”^[39] then ran a Level 2 response.^[40] Three minutes later the location got tighter: “11th and 12th floor — far-left elevator in the Youth Department entrance,” with Rescue 1 and Ladder 40 marked en route.^[41]

818 Ellicott Street / O’Shea Children’s Hospital — Commercial Fire Alarm Pulls Engine 21, Engine 3, Ladder 6, and Battalion 43

At 5:42 p.m., BFD Ch. 1 ran an activated commercial alarm at 818 Ellicott Street and identified the address on the air: “That’s at O’Shea Children’s Hospital, scope for Engine 21, Engine 3, Ladder 6, and B43.”^[42][43] Resolution not audible in the captured window.

BFD Level 2 to a University LRT Station — Then Updated Mid-Response to a Different LRT Station Entirely

At 5:28 p.m., BFD Ch. 1 dispatched B47 to a Level 2 at the University LRT Station, 3435 Main Street between Allenhurst and Capon.^[44] A third phone call from NFTA Police, time-stamped 5:32, pivoted the response: “NFTA Police is reporting it is Amherst Street Station. Should we move the company to that and pick up 38 and Ladder 6?”^[45]