BUFFALO, N.Y. — Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael Keane says a 31-year-old homeless man and a 'person of interest' in the deaths of two men in Buffalo Saturday has been charged with criminal possession of a weapon.
Dale O. Cummings, 31, was arraigned Monday afternoon on the felony count after Buffalo Police say someone tipped them off about his whereabouts Sunday.
Investigators have referred to Cummings as a 'person of interest' in the homicides of Buffalo residents Babul Meah and Abu Yousuf.
Keane said he expects more charges to be filed in connection to the case but at a Monday press conference said that the homicide investigation remains ongoing.
According to Buffalo Police Meah and Yousuf were shot Saturday afternoon by a squatter who was living in a home on Zenner Street. The house was being sold and both men, members of Buffalo's Bangladeshi community, had been contracted to do some work on it.
Instead, they were shot and killed, and unknowingly to police, the gunman had escaped.
"We are pleased to have a 'person of interest,' I can tell you these two men were innocent, they were there to work," said Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said Cummings was later arrested after being identified from convenience store surveillance footage that had been released to the public. Police had used a receipt found in the home on Zenner Street to find the footage.
Upon being taken into custody, police allegedly found a 9mm foldable long rifle in Cummings possession.
When asked how a homeless individual was allegedly able to obtain such a weapon, Commissioner Gramaglia said police have some information about that but he did not elaborate.
"We've never had a level of violence we've never had anything like this that I am aware of. I think this case is truly, I'll call it an anomaly, that something like this happened. You don't hear things like this," said Gramaglia.
Mayor Byron Brown called the shooting "vicious" and "cold-blooded" during the Monday press conference. He added that both victims were fathers, one with two children and a third on the way, the other victim was a father of seven.
Commissioner Gramaglia said the shooting was random and is not being considered a hate crime.
A prayer service for the victims is scheduled at the Buffalo Muslim Center Tuesday at 2:00 p.m.