All Incidents

More incidents in the Buffalo Police Department

Incident

Date Jun 24, 2012
Time 03:00 AM
Department Buffalo Police Department
Officers Karl B. Schultz , Jason A. Whitenight
Address Buffalo, NY

Incident Description

Wilson Morales was shot by Buffalo police officers after a car chase on the city’s East Side. The bullet that struck Morales, then a 17-year-old student at WNY Maritime Charter School, instantly paralyzed him from the chest down.

Outcome

Morales, who is still recuperating, faces trial on charges of assaulting a police officer and unlawfully fleeing from a police officer.

Buffalo’s Common Council authorized one of the largest lawsuit settlements in the city’s history: $4.5 million to Morales. A grand jury cleared Officer Karl B. Schultz and a partner at the time, Jason R. Whitenight, agreeing they fired in self-defense as the teenager backed the van he was driving toward Whitenight at the tail-end of a high-speed chase.

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