By WBFO News
Buffalo, NY – Three people are dead following a weekend of violence in Buffalo.
Twenty-one-year-old Drayton Collins of Buffalo died at the Erie County Medical Center early yesterday after being shot. Authorities say Collins sought help at the Engine 23 firehouse on Bailey Avenue.
Saturday evening, 16-year-old Matthew Elliott was fatally shot outside a dance at an East Utica Street community center. Earlier Saturday, 43-year-old William Benton was choked to death to a fight at a house on Woltz Avenue.
The weekend violence brings this year's homicide total to 21. While that's four fewer than at this time last year, nine homicides have occurred in the past month. Police officials say there is usually a spike in gun violence during the hot weather months.
Detectives are also investigating five other shooting incidents that left five people wounded, one critically.