Incident

Incident Description

At approximately 12:45 p.m. on August 13th, 2025 three Cheektowaga Police Department(CPD) officers were allegedly attempting to arrest Hugh Davis Jr, a 60-year-old Black man who was a veteran with mental health issues, when an officer shot and killed him. CPD officers claim they were at Mr. Davis's apartment in North Buffalo to arrest him for an alleged assault that occurred in Cheektowaga.

In body cam footage, officers can been seen forcefully knocking on the door for several minutes claiming they had some property of Mr. Davis's that they wanted to return. In released footage, officers did not announce that their purpose as being the execution of an arrest warrant, which is required under CPL § 120.80(4).

The officers continued to knock on the door without getting an answer, and the door was getting progressively damaged. At one point one officer stuck her foot in a crack in a central panel of the door while another officer intentionally punched in the central panel. It fell into the apartment, and appeared to fall onto Mr Davis. Officers had no legal basis to force entry.

One of the officers announces, "Cheektowaga Police," as he removed the panel. Mr Davis can be heard saying, "who is at my door," as he lunged through the door, allegedly holding a knife in his hand. One of the officers then shot and killed Mr. Davis.

Hugh Davis Jr was pronounced dead at the scene.

The police officers recklessly created the situation leading to deadly force. Forcing entry under false pretenses and breaking the door escalated the encounter.

The Buffalo Police Department is investigating the shooting, as is the New York State Attorney General's Office. Under state law, they are called in when a civilian dies in an encounter with police.

A total of four Cheektowaga officers are under paid administrative leave, which is department policy for police shootings. An internal affairs investigation is also concurrently underway.