BUFFALO, N.Y. — One person is in custody following what Buffalo Police believe were two attempted robberies at a residence on Pennsylvania Street and a methadone clinic on Virginia Street.
The incidents happened within minutes of each other Thursday morning, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said during a virtual news conference later Thursday. He added that both incidents appear to be drug-related.
First at 8:44 a.m., Gramaglia said B-District Officers responded to a home on Pennsylvania Street where a 47-year-old woman had been shot in the leg. She was taken to ECMC with non-life-threatening injuries.
At 8:46 a.m., the commissioner said a different 911 caller claimed someone had walked into the lobby of a methadone clinic on Virginia Street carrying an AR-15-style rifle and fired one shot into a wall.
Commissioner Gramaglia credits two security guards working at the clinic with "heroically" stopping that individual, who he identified as a white male.
The first guard reportedly ran after the man and pushed him out of the clinic, while grabbing the weapon. The commissioner said at least two additional rounds were fired during the struggle. However, no one at the clinic was shot.
The second security guard credited with stopping the man helped force the individual outside, and both guards according to police worked together to remove the weapon from the man and pin him to the ground.
Buffalo Police have not identified the individual at this time. A second individual who a police department spokesperson originally said was taken into custody has since been released, the commissioner said.
Gramaglia added that the department is working with ATF to trace where the AR-style weapon came from, as it was also equipped with an extended 30-round magazine and loaded with more than 10 rounds of ammunition.
Such a setup is illegal under New York's SAFE Act.
Charges are still pending against the white male suspected of carrying out these attempted robberies. He was taken to ECMC for a medical evaluation the Commissioner said.
Investigators say this does not appear to be a planned attack.
"I'm not going to speculate on what could have been what I will say the security guard[s] took immediate action, grabbed this individual, and [were] able to take him into control," Gramaglia said.