BUFFALO, N.Y. — UPDATE: On Tuesday the Buffalo Police Department released the names of the officers and the individual connected to an officer-involved shooting that happened early Monday morning on Hertel Avenue.
The officers have been identified as Phillip Edwards, who was hired on the force in 2015, and Michael Ramos, who was hired in 2020.
The individual has been identified as Dominique Thomas, 30. He remains at ECMC and police say charges are pending against him.
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The Buffalo Police Department is investigating an officer-involved shooting that happened early Monday morning on Hertel Avenue.
According to Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia, officers were called to the 1900 block of Hertel Avenue just after 4:30 a.m. When they arrived, a man with a knife started coming at the officers in the stairwell of an apartment building.
The officers recognized the man was having a mental health crisis and they retreated. However, the individual kept coming after them outside the building. It is at this point that the officers opened fire.
"He was struck in both hands, ankle, neck and I think his side. There were multiple gunshots. He's in stable condition thankfully. It's all on body camera, we've watched the body camera from multiple angles, and officers all had their body cameras on," said the commissioner.
The 31-year-old man was taken to ECMC. He is listed in serious, but stable condition.
The officers involved in the shooting are on paid administrative leave per the Buffalo Police Department's regulations.
Police encountered this same man last week when he asked to be transported to ECMC.
"Our behavioral health team works the day shift they were not there (on Monday morning) what I can say is that our behavioral health team has engaged this individual, our officers in the past," Gramaglia said.