Buffalo Police Identify Man Killed in Officer-Involved Shooting

New information has been released by the Buffalo Police Department regarding a man shot and killed by an officer early Wednesday.

According to officials, a car driven by the victim, identified as Dae’Von M. Roberts was pulled over for a traffic stop just after midnight near the intersection of Kensington and Poultney avenues. Officers say Roberts was pulled over for speeding and having windows tinted too dark.

The traffic stop was not confrontational and “courteous,” and Roberts and the as-yet unidentified officer spoke for a few minutes.

When the officer asked Roberts for his license, Roberts didn’t have one but gave the officer a picture. The officer also noticed a child in the passenger seat; the child was not wearing a seatbelt at the time.

When the officer returned to their vehicle to look up Roberts’ information, the officer could not find a valid license on record. Roberts was then asked to leave the car but, instead, put the car into drive and sped away, going more than 60 miles per hour, the officials said. One officer was still holding on to the car when Roberts pulled away.

Buffalo Police officials said Roberts tried to kick an officer off the car, which was followed by multiple shots being fired into the car. When the vehicle slowed down, Roberts fell out and an officer ran to the vehicle to check on the status of the child in the passenger seat.

Another officer, who was in a second car following the first officer, checked on Roberts, who was taken to a hospital for medical attention but died.

A search warrant was approved for the car and, during a search, officers found a gun under the driver’s seat containing seven bullets.

Buffalo Police also say Roberts is the half-brother of Jaylen Griffin, the young boy who went missing in 2020 and whose body was found in April.

The incident is being investigated by both Buffalo homicide detectives and the police department’s Internal Affairs Division; the internal investigation is required by departmental procedure.

The New York State Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigations has been notified of the incident as well, as is policy following all officer-involved shootings.

This is the second time in 2024 that Buffalo police have shot and killed someone; in February officers were called to a home on Reed Street by a man who may have dialed 911 on himself.

The victim in that incident, later identified as Edward Holmes, 58, was said to have been holding a shotgun as police arrived and did not follow instructions to put the gun down. Holmes reportedly fired one round from his gun before two officers fired their weapons. His autopsy revealed Holmes had been shot multiple times.