Buffalo · Lafayette Square · Man With a Knife

A Man With a Knife Under the Central Library, Pointing It at Passersby

Buffalo police broke cars off in the heart of downtown for a knife call at Lafayette Square.

Yesterday evening, just before 6:00 PM, a knife call came in from the middle of downtown Buffalo — Lafayette Square, at the foot of the Central Library on Ellicott Street. Available cars broke off to head that way, dispatch noting the units could still catch up if they moved.

The description that came across was a black male in his 20s, wearing a hat and a blue shirt, seated on Ellicott Street beneath the library and pointing the knife at people. Officers converged from the surrounding blocks, one crew offering to swing around the corner to assist another, and the call cleared as patrols saturated the square.

Buffalo · Titus & Empire · Death Investigation

A Young Man Found Dead by the Titus & Empire Tracks; Homicide Called, Trains Held

A woman flagged down officers after finding a body along the rail line on Buffalo's East Side.

Yesterday evening at 7:35 PM, Buffalo police started toward Titus and Empire on a report of a self-harm attempt — the first word over the air was fragmentary and alarming. Within two minutes it hardened into something worse: a woman had found a 22-year-old man near the train tracks, and he was deceased.

By 7:38 PM an officer confirmed the body on the tracks, and dispatch was patched through to the homicide unit, sending a detective car to the scene. Minutes later, a supervisor asked the rail dispatcher to hold train traffic coming through the area while the investigation got underway.

Cheektowaga · Redwood Drive · Missing Teen

A 14-Year-Old Autistic Girl Pedals Away From Redwood Drive on a Sunflower-Backpack Bike

Cheektowaga police opened an evening search after a teen with autism left home hours earlier and didn't return.

Yesterday evening at 9:23 PM, Cheektowaga police put out the description of a missing 14-year-old autistic girl last seen leaving 11 Redwood Drive around 5:00 PM. Dispatch described dark brown hair and glasses, a black bicycle, and a sunflower backpack.

The specific, homespun details — the bicycle, the sunflower pack — are the kind of thing that turns an alert into a search, and units began working the neighborhood into the night. It was the first of two missing-teen calls involving an autistic 14-year-old to cross the wires within the hour.

Chautauqua County · Missing Teen

A Second Autistic 14-Year-Old Bolts From a Vehicle Near a Holiday Inn Express

Chautauqua deputies searched a commercial strip after a girl fled a car and ran on foot.

Yesterday evening at 8:04 PM, Chautauqua County law enforcement began working a missing-teen call after a 14-year-old girl with autism fled a vehicle near a McDonald's parking lot and ran westbound toward a Holiday Inn Express. She was described in a blue sweatshirt and pants with bows, with red hair.

The search played out across the commercial strip for the better part of ten minutes. Coming the same night as the Cheektowaga alert, it was the second time in an hour that a 14-year-old autistic girl had gone missing on the wires — an unsettling coincidence across two ends of the listening area.

↗ Related: see_also

Cattaraugus County · Route 16 · Motorcycle Crash

A Rider Named Crick, a Dead Phone, and 40 Feet of Field Off Route 16

Cattaraugus deputies launched a search for an injured motorcyclist thrown into a field in the dark.

Overnight at 3:07 AM, a motorcycle went down along Route 16 between Holland and Yorkshire, in the Savage Road vicinity, ending up roughly 40 feet off the road in a field. The operator, identified on dispatch as Elton Crick, was injured — and his phone had died, leaving searchers to comb the dark shoulder to find him.

Cattaraugus deputies initiated a search across the crash area and located the rider. A single-vehicle wreck at that hour, in that stretch of open country, is exactly the kind of call that turns on how fast responders can find someone who can no longer call back.

Salamanca · Kinley Shelter · Overdose

Roughly 100 Pills Ingested at the Kinley Shelter; EMS Finds the Man Responsive

Salamanca police and fire responded to a self-harm overdose at a Church Street shelter.

Yesterday at 10:31 PM, Salamanca police and fire were dispatched to the Kinley Shelter at 25 Church Street, Room 18, for a man who had reportedly swallowed roughly 100 unknown pills in an apparent self-harm attempt.

EMS responded and found the patient responsive. The call was one of several self-harm and crisis runs that threaded through the overnight across Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties.

I-90 North · Smith Street · Five-Car MVA

Five Cars Tangle in the Left Lane of I-90 North at the Smith Street Exit

Multiple injuries were reported as the crash bottled up the northbound Thruway.

Yesterday evening at 7:28 PM, a five-car crash piled up in the left lane of I-90 North at the Smith Street exit, with multiple injuries reported over the air. Thruway units and Buffalo Fire responded to a corridor that had already seen a two-car wreck near the same Smith Street access minutes earlier.

By 7:38 PM a related four-vehicle count on I-190 North had one patient transported and two others signing off, with no entrapment reported — a busy evening stretch of highway that kept crews shuttling between overlapping scenes.

Buffalo · Central Terminal · Goats at Large

Three Goats, One Central Terminal, and a Dispatcher With No Idea Who to Call

An officer's honest bewilderment produced the night's finest shrug.

Yesterday at 9:08 PM, an officer keyed up near the old Central Terminal on Tataruski with a problem that has no obvious box on the call sheet: three goats, loose. He was refreshingly candid about the jurisdictional gap.

No word on whether the goats were located, cited, or simply left to their evening constitutional around the Terminal grounds.

Chautauqua County · Lakeview Cemetery · Gate Trouble

Locked In With the Dearly Departed: Cemetery Visitors Trapped by the Closing Gate

Several people found themselves on the wrong side of Lakeview Cemetery's schedule.

Yesterday evening at 8:45 PM, Chautauqua County law enforcement got word that several living visitors to Lakeview Cemetery had been sealed inside when the gate swung shut for the night.

It is, if nothing else, the rare emergency where everyone else on the property is already exactly where they're supposed to be.

Buffalo · Rail Yard · Hold the Trains

A Radio Straight to the Rail Yard: Hold the Trains

A sober piece of dispatch improvisation in the middle of a death investigation.

Yesterday evening at 7:39 PM, with a body on the tracks near Titus and Empire, a Buffalo supervisor did the only thing that made sense and asked the rail dispatcher to reach out and stop the trains from rolling through.

It's a plain sentence carrying an enormous amount of weight — the whole freight line paused, on request, for one scene on the East Side.

↗ Related: same_incident

Hamburg · Lakeview · Kill the Power

Send National Grid to Us — Firefighters Want the House Unplugged

A blunt request from a Lakeview fireground, garbled callsign and all.

Yesterday evening at 7:51 PM, a Hamburg crew working a Lakeview house fire cut through the back-and-forth and asked for exactly what they needed: the utility, on scene, to disconnect the power to the house.

It's the kind of transmission that reminds you a fireground is half firefighting and half logistics — sometimes the most urgent call is to the power company.

West Seneca · Tow Logistics

How Do You Tow a Locked Car? Very Carefully, an Officer Explains

A patiently detailed set of towing instructions from a West Seneca officer.

Yesterday afternoon at 4:07 PM, a West Seneca officer walked the tow company through the fine print of hauling away a vehicle that was locked up tight: whoever showed up would have to drag it onto a flatbed or pick it up whole.

A small, practical moment of the wires — the unglamorous choreography of getting a stubborn car from Point A to the impound lot.

Buffalo · I-190 South

Two-Car Crash on I-190 South Draws Engine, Ladder and Rescue Companies

Yesterday at 6:33 PM, Buffalo Fire dispatch sent Engine 32, Ladder 5 and Rescue 1 to I-190 southbound before the Seneca Street exit, directing companies off at Smith Street for a report of a motor vehicle accident. Ladder 5 arrived first and confirmed “we appear to have a two-car MVA”, and within minutes a battalion chief authorized bringing in the rescue company as well. Crews working from the far right lane requested a single ambulance before the call cleared, with no further word on injuries broadcast on the air.

Buffalo · Guilford Avenue Area

Van Tied to Hamburg Robbery Tracked Into Buffalo, Plate Unconfirmed

Yesterday at 10:26 PM, a Buffalo police unit called in that a vehicle connected to a robbery in Hamburg had turned up in the city, radioing that “the vehicle from Hamburg's robbery, the van, just went past west from Guilford about a minute ago”. Additional units checked in to help coordinate a search for the van, but officers could not confirm a license plate, and no arrest was broadcast on the air before the call cleared.

Buffalo · Villa Park

Three Young Children Reported Abused by Both Parents at Villa Park Home

Yesterday at 4:34 PM, Buffalo police radioed an assault call reporting that a 9-year-old, an 8-year-old, and a 5-year-old were “being abused by both of their parents”, with physical marks noted on the children and a child-welfare notification made on the air. Dispatch identified the children's address as 11 Villa Park and said the caller was a friend of the family. Officers cleared the call minutes later; no arrests or further details were broadcast.

Buffalo · Connecticut & Prospect

About 100 Gather, Jump on Cars Near Connecticut and Prospect in Reported Gang Call

Just before 11:25 PM, Buffalo police logged a gang-activity call for Connecticut and Prospect after a passerby reported “about 100 people gathered and jumping on vehicles in the parking lot”. No complainant was on scene when officers arrived, and the area was cleared shortly after with no further details broadcast.

Buffalo · O'Reilly Avenue

Woman Found Unresponsive on O'Reilly Avenue

Just before 10:46 PM, Buffalo police radioed a person-down call reporting a female found unresponsive on the ground, with the on-scene officer confirming ADI (medical) had been notified. Dispatch checked repeatedly for a response over the air before the call cleared; no further details on her condition were broadcast.

Depew · Calumet Street

Ex-Partner Assaults Woman, Drives Off in Her Car on Calumet Street

Just after 6 AM this morning, Depew police were dispatched to Calumet Street on a report that a woman's ex-partner had assaulted her and then driven off in her vehicle. Dispatch put out a description of the car for other units to watch for; no arrest was reported on the air before the call cleared.

East Aurora · Center Street

Mutual Aid Called for Residential Electrical Fire on East Aurora's Center Street

Yesterday at 3:36 PM, East Aurora fire dispatch requested mutual aid for a reported residential electrical fire at 1277 Center Street, on the west side between Sweet and Blakely, bringing in East Aurora and East Road engine companies. Crews arriving on scene reported a story-and-a-half home with nothing showing from the outside, and a chief took command of the Center Street scene while units investigated.

East Aurora · Springbrook Shores Drive

75-Year-Old Found Unresponsive After 10-Foot Fall Down East Aurora Basement Stairs

Early this morning, just before 12:44 AM, East Aurora Fire's Springbrook company and EMS were sent to 14 Springbrook Shores Drive for a 75-year-old woman reported to have fallen at least 10 feet down a basement stairway onto the concrete floor. Dispatch relayed that she was “reportedly not alert” as Springbrook and Northern Aurora units responded along with an AMR paramedic crew, which reached the scene at 12:49 AM. No update on her condition was broadcast before the call cleared the air.

Hamburg · Lakeview Terrace

Utility-Room Fan Fire Draws Full Mutual-Aid Response in Hamburg

Yesterday just before 6:47 PM, Hamburg Fire dispatch put out a full assignment to 5863 Lakeview Terrace, between Pennhurst and Hazelwood, on a caller's report of a structure fire. Dispatch built the response quickly, sending Lakeview and Hamburg companies along with Evans Fast, Hamburg's air trailer and Engine 8, Highland and Lakeshore Engines, and mutual aid from New Nevis Fast, Scranton 6 and Woodlawn 4, all directed to Fireground channel 22. The caller's report narrowed almost immediately to a fan on fire inside a utility room, and the dispatch channel closed out within the minute with no further updates on damage broadcast on the air.

Olean · Martin Street

72-Year-Old Found Unresponsive on Martin Street in Olean

Yesterday at 10:40 PM, Olean police dispatch took a call reporting a 72-year-old found unconscious and not breathing on Martin Street. The caller told dispatch they were unable to get CPR started as units were sent to assist; no update on the person's condition was broadcast on the air before the segment ended.

Dunkirk · Chadwick Bay Marina

Woman Pulled From Water at Chadwick Bay Marina Amid Apparent Crisis

Early this morning around 5:38 AM, Dunkirk Fire, Chautauqua County Fire and Dunkirk Police converged on Chadwick Bay Marina for a report of a woman in the water, with the radio traffic suggesting an apparent mental health crisis. Crews worked to get her out of the water; no information on her condition, or on any hospitalization, was broadcast before the call cleared.