BUFFALO, NY - Bodycam footage showing the moment a Buffalo police officer, clinging to a speeding car, fatally shoots the suspect while a terrified child sitting in the passenger seat is screaming, has been released.
According to Fox News, the wild footage was released by the Buffalo Police Department (BPD) on Thursday, July 11th, and shows Officer Ronald Ammerman pulling over the driver, identified as 25-year-old Dae'von Roberts for speeding on Kingston Avenue just after midnight on Wednesday, July 10th.
The footage shows Ammerman pulling Roberts over instead of stopping, Roberts hits the gas in a desperate attempt to get away and evade law enforcement. Ammerman can then be seen clinging onto the side of the car for his life, pleading with Roberts to stop, saying, "You're gonna kill me, bro." While this is happening, a six-year-old boy can be heard screaming in horror as he sits in the passenger seat.
For about 20 seconds, the car continues to speed and then Ammerman, who is still clinging to the car, fires off several shots and then tumbles to the ground. Ammerman shouts into the radio, "Shots fired! There's a kid in the car still. He tried killing me."
Ammerman then rushes over to check on the child, who thankfully was injured, and grabs hold of him until backup arrives on scene. Police said that a search of the suspect's vehicle revealed a gun. Roberts was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. In a news briefing, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said that he supports Ammerman's actions to defend himself from imminent danger.
Gramaglia said, "I believe that is a justified use of force that occurred the other night. When you take into account the fact that the officer found himself in a grave risk of serious physical injury or death, the use of that level of force is justified by law and I do believe that that is a justified use of force in this case."
He added, "These situations, they don't evolve in a classroom. They don't evolve in a training facility. This is real life. There's not a lot of control the way some of these situations go down. We can train for various situations, but when it happens in real life, when there are actual situations, they always happen differently than what they do in a training facility."
The chief said that Ammerman and another officer had acted in a professional and jovial manner during the traffic stop, which lasted about nine minutes before Roberts tried to flee. Roberts was pulled over for excessive speed and for having tinted windows, which Ammerman explains to him at the beginning of the traffic stop.
Ammerman the asks Robert to put down the rear tinted window, which he does, revealing a child's car seat and a six-year-old boy in the strong passenger seat without a seat belt on. Roberts can be heard referring to the child as his "little cousin" and "his nephew" and says he was on his way to dropping him home.
When asked to provide identification, Roberts does, showing Ammerman an out-of-state ID on his phone. Roberts told the officer he is from Georgia and was driving his sister's car. However, after running an ID check, Ammerman found the ID to be invalid and that Roberts did not have a license in Georgia or New York.
Ammerman, a seven-year veteran of the department, then told Roberts that police would do a different search for his name before the officer then tried to reach into the car and open the door. That is when Roberts put his foot on the gas and sped off with Ammerman anxiously clinging onto the door.
Prior to this incident, court records show that Roberts was charged back in April for his role in an alleged shots-fired incident at a memorial for his half-brother Jaylen Griffin, whose body was found at a South Buffalo home after he went missing in August of 2020. Roberts was indicted in June and was released under supervision at the time.
According to Fox News, the wild footage was released by the Buffalo Police Department (BPD) on Thursday, July 11th, and shows Officer Ronald Ammerman pulling over the driver, identified as 25-year-old Dae'von Roberts for speeding on Kingston Avenue just after midnight on Wednesday, July 10th.
The footage shows Ammerman pulling Roberts over instead of stopping, Roberts hits the gas in a desperate attempt to get away and evade law enforcement. Ammerman can then be seen clinging onto the side of the car for his life, pleading with Roberts to stop, saying, "You're gonna kill me, bro." While this is happening, a six-year-old boy can be heard screaming in horror as he sits in the passenger seat.
For about 20 seconds, the car continues to speed and then Ammerman, who is still clinging to the car, fires off several shots and then tumbles to the ground. Ammerman shouts into the radio, "Shots fired! There's a kid in the car still. He tried killing me."
Ammerman then rushes over to check on the child, who thankfully was injured, and grabs hold of him until backup arrives on scene. Police said that a search of the suspect's vehicle revealed a gun. Roberts was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. In a news briefing, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said that he supports Ammerman's actions to defend himself from imminent danger.
Gramaglia said, "I believe that is a justified use of force that occurred the other night. When you take into account the fact that the officer found himself in a grave risk of serious physical injury or death, the use of that level of force is justified by law and I do believe that that is a justified use of force in this case."
He added, "These situations, they don't evolve in a classroom. They don't evolve in a training facility. This is real life. There's not a lot of control the way some of these situations go down. We can train for various situations, but when it happens in real life, when there are actual situations, they always happen differently than what they do in a training facility."
The chief said that Ammerman and another officer had acted in a professional and jovial manner during the traffic stop, which lasted about nine minutes before Roberts tried to flee. Roberts was pulled over for excessive speed and for having tinted windows, which Ammerman explains to him at the beginning of the traffic stop.
Ammerman the asks Robert to put down the rear tinted window, which he does, revealing a child's car seat and a six-year-old boy in the strong passenger seat without a seat belt on. Roberts can be heard referring to the child as his "little cousin" and "his nephew" and says he was on his way to dropping him home.
When asked to provide identification, Roberts does, showing Ammerman an out-of-state ID on his phone. Roberts told the officer he is from Georgia and was driving his sister's car. However, after running an ID check, Ammerman found the ID to be invalid and that Roberts did not have a license in Georgia or New York.
Ammerman, a seven-year veteran of the department, then told Roberts that police would do a different search for his name before the officer then tried to reach into the car and open the door. That is when Roberts put his foot on the gas and sped off with Ammerman anxiously clinging onto the door.
Prior to this incident, court records show that Roberts was charged back in April for his role in an alleged shots-fired incident at a memorial for his half-brother Jaylen Griffin, whose body was found at a South Buffalo home after he went missing in August of 2020. Roberts was indicted in June and was released under supervision at the time.
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