BUFFALO – Responding to a call of a barricaded gunman on Riverside Avenue, the Buffalo Police SWAT team fired tear gas and raided a home early Sunday evening, only to find the residence empty after conducting a thorough search.
Buffalo police spokesperson Michael DeGeorge said police had reason to believe that at least one other person could have been inside the residence with the gunman. The SWAT team responded to the first block of Riverside at around 4:45 p.m., acting under the assumption there was a man inside.
On scene, a member of the SWAT team attempted to make contact with a person he believed was inside the home, ordering him through a megaphone to "come to the front door." Repeatedly, the officer said "you're not in trouble," adding that the police "want to make sure everybody's safe." Eventually, they began shooting tear gas into the home before raiding it with a dozen officers around 6:30 p.m.
A loud boom resonated throughout the neighborhood when the SWAT team entered the home, but after spending about 15 minutes inside, officers then exited the home, piled into the SWAT truck and almost immediately left the scene.
DeGeorge said the call was credible enough to use tear gas, which he said is not commonly used by Buffalo police. Five hundred feet away, the crowd of people around the scene could faintly feel the effects of the gas.
"It was making my nose hurt, making my asthma breathe heavy," Debra Smith said. "I've never felt that before."
Most of the neighbors scattered back to their homes shortly after the SWAT team left the scene.
"I heard the loud boom," Eric Jones said, recalling the moment the SWAT team entered the home. "Terrifying."
DeGeorge said the investigation into the incident continues, and that it's possible the man could have left the home before officers arrived. For that reason, police urge anyone with information to immediately call 911.
