Cheektowaga Police officials, who continue to investigate a fatal shooting involving one of their officers, have released video footage from the scene.
On March 5, a Cheektowaga police officer fired two shots, killing 34-year-old Darrell Bosell in the parking lot of the Best Western hotel near the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.
The video released by police, which can be seen below, includes scenes recorded by the Best Western's security system as well as the dashboard camera installed in the officer's patrol car.
In at least two scenes, Bosell can be seen holding a gun in his right hand. The shooting is not seen at any time on the video but can be heard. Just before he walks out of view of the patrol car camera, Bosell can be seen raising his gun.
"This incident has been thoroughly investigated by the Cheektowaga Police Department," said Chief David Zack. "We've concluded that the officer involved reacted properly and in accordance with training. The use of deadly physical force in this incident was justified."
Bosell is said to have had a history of mental health issues. Zack acknowledged this during the news conference but would not provide further details. He also opened his remarks by again expressing his condolences to Bosell's family. Zack later spoke of the family's message, forwarded through their attorney, thanking the Cheektowaga Police Department for the way in which they handled the case.
"I've been in law enforcement for close to 30 years," Zack said. "I've never seen something like that, where a family issues a statement like that, not necessarily in support of the police department but I think understanding what the situation was.
"It's got to be the classiest gesture I've ever seen. I've never seen anything like that."
Zack added that the family's message has helped the Cheektowaga police officer involved to cope better with the incident. That officer remains on leave and police have still not released his name, saying only that he was trained in crisis intervention.
Zack also took the opportunity to call for better training for cases involving mentally ill individuals. Police released a statistic indicating that at least one of every four cases of deadly police force involves a mentally ill individual. Additionally, at least one of every 10 police responses involves someone with mental illness.
"We strongly feel that more needs to be done with police training, as it relates to dealing with those who suffer from mental illness," Zack said.
