ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Orchard Park Police have confirmed the identity of the man killed by officers on Friday as James Tighe Cushman.
The incident happened around 8:50 p.m. Friday at Hawthorne Drive and Poplar Avenue.
According to Orchard Park Police Chief Patrick Fitzgerald, they received a 911 call from Cushman that his mother had a gun and that he was armed with a knife. He also allegedly told the dispatcher that he was "going out with a bang."
When the first officer arrived, he parked down the street, and Cushman allegedly rushed the officer with a knife as he was getting out of his patrol vehicle, police said. Fitzgerald said the officer retreated and Cushman chased after him. The officer told him to drop the knife, and it was at that point that Cushman walked around the police vehicle and back to his driveway.
Fitzgerald said Cushman then told the officer, "You should have done it dude. You should have shot me dude."
When he was in the driveway, a second officer arrived on scene, and Cushman rushed the officers again, armed with a knife, then turned around and went back up the driveway and said, "You should have f---ing shot me, bro. Why didn't you shoot me?"
Police said he then put the knife down, approached the front of the house where his mother was, and the officers told the mother to go into the house to try and separate them. She went into the house when a third officer arrived.
As that officer pulled up, Cushman grabbed the knife again and chased after them, police say. That is when they shot him seven times.
He dropped the knife and then got into a physical struggle with the officers that led him to a neighbor's driveway. Officers attempted to provide care after shots fired, and EMS was called seconds after shots were fired, Chief Fitzgerald said.
This is not the first run-in police have had with Cushman, mostly mental health-related. They have said he is well known to them, and they were at his house last week on Thursday because he allegedly claimed he was hearing noises in the attic. Fitzgerald said Cushman talked to Crisis Services and did not meet the requirement for a mental health arrest.
The officers involved in Friday's shooting are Thomas Fowler and Tanner Till. Fowler is a five-year veteran, police said, while Till has been with Orchard Park Police for one year.
Both are on administrative leave and are cooperating with the investigation.
New York law requires police departments to alert the state Office of Special Investigation when a death is caused by a member or members of law enforcement.
The New York Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation on Tuesday provided an update, saying an investigation into the shooting had begun.
The family of the man shot and killed by Orchard Park Police on Friday night reviewed doorbell video and audio of the 911 call, the police chief confirmed.
Fitzgerald says the news conference originally scheduled for Thursday has been pushed back to 10 a.m. Saturday. The family is gathering for a family event on Saturday and asked police if they could delay the press conference until Saturday.
"Although this is unusual, due to these circumstances we will accommodate the family's request," police said in a statement, adding that the meeting with the family happened Wednesday.
The footage will be released to the public Saturday, but authorities will not release body camera footage of the incident, as 2 On Your Side has learned Orchard Park police officers do not wear body cams. Back in 2016, they did have body cams, but they say over time they became “no longer usable” and too expensive to replace.
Orchard Park Police did say they have secured the necessary funding and plan to reintroduce body cams in the near future.
Tommy Gallagher, Kelsey Kauffman, Alissa Clausell and Andy Paden contributed to this article.