BUFFALO, N.Y. — Four people were shot just before 7 p.m. Wednesday at JFK Park in Buffalo.
Buffalo Police say a man entered the park and began shooting. Two adults and two boys, ages 8 and 14, who were playing basketball on a nearby court, were injured in the shootings, which happened in the 100 block of Hickory Street.
Police say the four victims were transported to various hospitals to be treated for injuries.
On Thursday, Deputy Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia updated the condition of the victims.
"The 8-year-old was grazed in the ear and was treated and released. The 14-year-old boy was shot in the chest, and fortunately he was treated and released as well," Gramaglia reported.
Gramaglia said 24-year-old man, who was shot in the leg, was also treated and released, while a 21-year-old man who was shot in the back and who underwent surgery remains hospitalized in serious condition.
Priest nearly shot in incident
Father Jud Weiksnar nearly became the fifth shooting victim when a stray bullet entered through an exterior wall of the friary at the the nearby Saints Columba-Brigid Catholic Church.
"I was sitting at my desk, about six or seven or feet away from where the bullet entered the room," recalled Father Weiksnar, who was sitting in his bedroom, reading emails at the time.
He found the bullet on the floor after calling police.
Father Weiksnar described a chaotic scene at the park following the shooting, with cars racing over the basketball courts to make a hasty exit.
"It must have been a pretty powerful shot, because those basketball courts are around 100 yards away, and it went through an exterior wall and an interior wall, and it hit my shelves hard enough to shake the shelves," he said.
"As someone reminded me, it used to be that when you had a dispute, you pulled out the brass knuckles and had at it. Now they're shooting indiscriminately on a basketball court where kids were playing, and that's wrong."
More violence
Ten hours later, Buffalo Police responded to a home on Ashley street to find three people shot to death, in what they believe were targeted shootings.