A Child Caller Said “Dad Just Shot Mom.” Amherst PD Knew the Address.

A 144 Sundridge call at 1:26 a.m. triggers a full response — but it’s the same residence Amherst has worked “multiple swatting calls” on before. The family ended up walking out with their hands up.

At 1:26 a.m. an Amherst PD dispatcher keyed up a sentence no patrol officer ever wants to hear cold: “We have a child caller claiming that the father just shot the mother.”^[1] The next eight seconds are the heart of the call. An officer asked, “Are you familiar with that address?”^[2] The dispatcher answered, “I’m not going to lie, I’m not familiar with the method — except for it’s the residence where we’ve had the multiple swatting calls.”^[3]

By 1:27 dispatch noted that the names the child caller had given did not match the names from the prior calls.^[4] Officers staged in the parking lot off Sheridan, next to United, that backs up to the house.^[5] A second caller — the same “quote-unquote child caller” — had reportedly phoned Amherst Virginia first to report this and then been given the Amherst, New York, number, which the dispatcher flagged on the air.^[6] Neighbors who came out of their houses on the street said they had heard absolutely nothing — “no loud things, no noises.”^[7]

At 1:37 a.m., the family inside the named residence transmitted their own line back to the officers staged outside: “We’ll come outside with our hands up so you guys can speak with her.”^[8] By 1:42 they were on the lawn, cooperative, talking with officers.^[9] The address turned out to be the right side at 144 Sundridge; the left side — the one a sister with a live-feed camera was watching from offsite — was clean.^[10] No shooting. No injury. Another swat at a house that has been swatted before.

Pre-Dawn Car-vs-Motorcycle Shuts Down Main Road in Newstead

A 4:48 a.m. Amherst Fire dispatch put Newstead crews in front of 11789 Main Road for a motorcycle accident. The road was closed for half an hour.

Amherst Fire dispatch at 4:48 a.m.: “Newstead, I’m on a vehicle accident in front of 11789 Main Road.”^[11] The call was upgraded thirty seconds later to a car-vs-motorcycle on Main Road between Barnum Road and Hayden Road: “Conditions reporting a car versus motorcycle.”^[12] Initial reports were that it might have been just a motorcyclist down — “it is unsure if a vehicle was involved, just given to us as a motorcyclist”^[13] — a hedge that, on a 35-mph rural stretch at four-fifty in the morning, is rarely good news.

By 4:57 the road was closed: “We’re gonna shut down Main Road between…”^[14] Closure ran to about 5:19 a.m., when dispatch reopened the road: “That’s clear. Green Road is back open. And Easton is back in service at 5.”^[15] Newstead 227 was the in-service unit on scene; Easton 93 was second-due. No on-air word on patient condition or transport destination.

Niagara Falls Boulevard Crash at 2519, Black Angus Meats — Airbags Deployed, Female Patient

A 5:35 p.m. call drew Amherst Fire, Ellicott Creek EMS, and Twin City Ambulance to the corner outside Black Angus Meats. The driver took an airbag to the face.

Amherst Fire dispatch at 5:43 p.m.: “Motor Vehicle Accident, 2519 Niagara Falls Boulevard, Black Angus Meats.”^[16] Ellicott Creek EMS second-called in.^[17] An officer was on scene quickly: “8 here for a female for the airbag deployment.”^[18] An ambulance flight was requested at 5:48 with a deployed airbag QC 247 indication.^[19] No on-air injury severity update before traffic moved on.

MVA at 8230 Wehrle, the Wehrle Golf Dome — Then a Wires-Arcing-a-Tree Call

A 6:16 p.m. accident at the indoor golf dome on Wehrle Drive, followed by a wires-arcing report nearby. Quiet aftermath.

At 6:16 p.m. Amherst Fire dispatched what came across as a Sailor Town-line MVA “from 8230 Wehrle Drive, the Wehrle Golf Dome.”^[20] The accident drew a hairline note about a second motor vehicle on the call.^[21] A minute later, a second incident a few blocks away came across the same channel: “That’s the report of wires arcing a tree… Billy Wilson Park.”^[22] Both went quiet after the initial dispatch — the air traffic suggests a minor MVA cleared without injury.

4 A.M. Domestic at 659 Niagara Falls Boulevard — Officer Pre-Briefed on Past Person-With-A-Gun Call

Routine front-porch argument, with a not-routine dispatcher heads-up: this is the same address Amherst had a 2023 person-with-a-gun complaint at, and a party there is known to carry in their waistband.

At 4:03 a.m. an Amherst PD officer announced he was checking 659 Niagara Falls Boulevard for a domestic — “a male and a female arguing on the front porch.”^[23] The dispatcher came back with the kind of pre-arrival briefing that matters: “An address for an individual named Ryan and a Lewis. We were there for a person with a gun complaint in 2023.”^[24] Twelve seconds later: “And if one of the parties involved is a last name Perlina, apparently they carry the firearm in their waistband.”^[25] Officers cleared it shortly after as “no domestic occurred” and the car not on location.^[26]

“Four Kids Beating Up One Kid Who’s on the Ground” at the 4301 Main Turf Field

A late-afternoon Amherst PD call to the turf field at 4301 Main Street — five to ten kids involved, no weapons seen. Arguing by the time the cruiser pulled up.

At 4:12 p.m. an officer at 4301 Main Street described the scene to dispatch directly: “There are several kids fighting on the turf field. There’s about 5 to 10 kids involved.”^[27] Two minutes in: “They’re right at the entrance to the turf. There’s about four kids beating up one kid who’s on the ground. No weapons seen.”^[28] By 4:15 the situation had settled to “They’re just arguing at this point.”^[29] No arrests called on the air.

Predawn Fire Alarm at the Hyatt Place, 5020 Main Street, Snyder

Amherst Fire at 6:31 a.m.: a fire alarm activation at “5020 Main Street and Kensington Avenue.”^[30] An Amherst PD unit confirmed it as “Hyatt Place, 5020 Main Street, Snyder.”^[31] Planetary Monitor responding; no fire confirmed on the channel before the window closed.^[32]

Tim Hortons Customer Slaps Coffee Out of Employee’s Hand, Flees at 80 MPH — And He May Have Had a Gun

From Amherst PD at 7:31 p.m., a sentence that arrives fully assembled out of nowhere: “Well, it’s Tim Hortons, 5225 Sheridan Drive. Apparently, they had a customer slap a coffee out of the employee’s hand. The customer was last seen in a gray SUV going about 80 miles an hour through the lot.”^[33] Then the kicker, eight seconds later: “They also stated that it looked like he may have had a gun in the holster.”^[34] The vehicle came back with no plate, only the color and the type. Officers checked JCPenney next door on the chance he’d ducked in to shop after the assault.^[35] A perfect Sheridan Drive Thursday night: aggrieved, armed, accelerating — over a coffee.

Two Men on FRS Channel 16 Spend the Evening on the Lake, Comparing Ex-Girlfriends and Slug-O-Metal

FRS 16 traffic from 7 p.m. forward is one long, beautifully circuitous conversation between two anglers, drifting between Canandaigua Lake landmarks (“Canandaigua Lady,” Manchester, Route 31), advice (“Employers, don’t bring up your ex-girlfriends”^[36]), and what may be the best lure recommendation ever transmitted in clear: “Slug-O-Metal — that damn thing acts like a diametal.”^[37] Earlier, one of them admitted “Girlfriend — I found my ex-girlfriend. No shit.”^[38] FRS is half-watt VHF; the propagation says this all happened within a couple miles of each other. Somewhere out toward Bob Springer Lake, two old friends, fishing and reminiscing.

“Mom, I’m Doing PIN Tags Right Now” — Delta Ramp Worker Live on the Open Channel

Delta Ramp at 7:12 p.m., on the open frequency, with what sounds like a parent on the other side of the radio: “Mom, I’m doing PIN tags right now. You have to give me a second. I can’t do both things at the same time.”^[39] Six seconds later, in tones the briefer than the first: “We just need answers, that’s all we need, answers, and we’re not hearing anything, it’s just that we ignore.”^[40] The PIN tags get done either way.

American Counter at BNIA: “We’ve Got 70 of Them”

An American Airlines agent at the BNIA ticket counter, 7:18 p.m.: “Going to need assistance with the passengers for sure… we’ve got 70 of them.”^[41] A whole flight’s worth of people, suddenly out of the gate and into the lobby, looking for the ticket counter. Ground staff scrambled.

“Faint Smell of Meat on the Stove” — Buffalo Fire Pinpoints a Dinner

BFD Ch1 at 6:27 p.m., reporting back from a fire alarm activation: “Nothing going on in here, just faint smell of meat on the stove, we’re going to see if we can pinpoint it, but it looks like it might be that.”^[42] The apartment turned out to be empty — no cook, no fire — so they moved on to the apartment across the hall.^[43] Buffalo’s most aromatic investigation of the evening.

“Mr. Personality Is Back Walking Toward My Bus”

TPS BNIA Shuttle, 4:24 p.m., with the dryness only a shuttle driver can deliver: “I see Mr. Personality is back walking toward my bus.”^[44] Across all 154 segments of TPS BNIA Shuttle traffic in the window, this was the line that earned a place. Whoever it was got on the bus.

“He Comes From Florida Every Year and Parks His Plane Here”

TAC Air Refuel, 3:00 p.m., the opening transmission of the window, somehow both a question and an answer: “He comes from Florida every year and he parks his plane here.”^[45] The plane, presumably, is happy.

“Hey, Marcus, Are You in Vegas?”

United Ramp at 6:53 p.m., a cold-open with no context: “Hey, Marcus, are you in Vegas?” Marcus, wherever he was, said he was “dropping the IAV back” and would “be right back into the back room.”^[46] A colleague asked him to look for a bag.^[47] Marcus was not, by inference, actually in Vegas.

Orchard Park Structure Fire Pulls Armor, Springville, OPFD Central; Hamburg Air Trailer to Scene

At 7:46 p.m. Town of Hamburg fire dispatch put out a mutual-aid call to Orchard Park: “Armor, Springville, Orchard Park, Mutual Agency, Orchard Park for a structure fire… Newton Abbott, FAB, Hamburg air trailer to the scene, Armor 2, Springville 6, OP Central.”^[48] Armor 2 was confirmed responding at 7:51.^[49] Address not cleanly captured on the recorded channel; on-air traffic shifted to landing mutual-aid runs to 240 Sunset by 8:18.^[50] Multi-company response.

BFD Ch1: Possible Entrapment MVA at Delaware and Church

Buffalo Fire Ch1 at 4:16 p.m. dispatched Rescue 1, Battalion 43, and Engine 40 to Delaware and Church for a motor vehicle accident with reported entrapment.^[51] No on-air confirmation of patient extrication or transport.

Niagara County: Vehicle Strikes Rock at Wilsonburg and Peavey, Airbags Deployed

Niagara County FD dispatch at 10:29 p.m.: “Single vehicle motor vehicle accident. Vehicle struck a rock with airbag deployment.”^[52] Updated dispatch a moment later put it at Wilsonburg Road and Peavey Road in South Wilson, with mutual-aid ambulance from Wilson Burton.^[53] Cold-approach response.

Niagara County FD: Cambria Brush Fire in a Ditch on Ridge Road

Pekin requested at 9:42 p.m. to handle a brush fire for Cambria 32 — “3270 Ridge Road to Barren Birch… Report is on fire in the ditch.”^[54] Tap 1; small fire. Ditch fires after sundown in dry June are a Niagara County summer ritual.

A Steady Drumbeat of Commercial Fire Alarms on BFD Ch1

Buffalo Fire Ch1 worked four commercial alarm activations across the window with no fire found at any: 179 Albany Street at the School Number 18 Annex (6:13 p.m.),^[55] 141 Elm Street at the Plain Mill building (12:06 a.m.),^[56] 1380 West (12:48 a.m. — second-floor full chain activated, no smoke or fire),^[57] and a second still-alarm investigation at 1:12 a.m. with no fire confirmed.^[58] Earlier in the day, a 3:04 p.m. national-grid manhole-smoke investigation at 124 Doyle Avenue closed out with no readings.^[59]