Willie Henley, a 60-year-old Black homeless man, was shot in the chest by Buffalo police officer Karl Schultz on September 12, 2020.

Henley was sitting with his belongings on a bench near the corner of Genesee and Ellicott streets and talking loudly to himself. Police were asked to check on the man. Among Henley’s possessions was a metal baseball bat.

When officers got there, Henley refused any assistance. More police arrived, including Karl Schultz and Alyssa Peron.

Schultz pulled out his gun after exiting his vehicle, while Henley was walking briskly away from several officers as they shouted at him to drop the bat.

“We’re just trying to help you!” Schultz yelled to Henley.

“Put the bat down!” Schultz called out to Henley as he kept his gun trained on the man. “Nobody wants to hurt you!”

Henley, who tried to walk away from the group of more than half a dozen officers, with weapons drawn, responded, "I didn’t call y'all! I wasn’t doing nothing. I was by myself."

As officers closed in on Henley, he swung his bat, hitting Peron at least once.

Seconds after cursing at a group of people protesting the police presence, Schultz fired two rounds from his handgun. One bullet struck Henley in the chest.

Henley was known for carrying his baseball bat wherever he went, slept with it on street corners at night, and lined up for meals every day with it at the Buffalo City Mission. Those who regularly interacted with him described him as "very quiet, very peaceful."

What should have been a mental health check on Henley devolved into a needless confrontation in which many officers flocked to the scene, chased and surrounded Henley, shouting at him to drop a bat, when all he wanted was to walk away. As Peron closed in, Henley swung his bat at her.

Outcome

Henley survived the shooting.

Henley has been declared incompetent and then competent again twice since the day he was shot. A criminal case against Henley, who was charged with assault, has been delayed over his mental competence.

He has been held in a psychiatric detention facility on and off for several years. Meanwhile, Schultz was placed on fully paid leave for two years as the criminal case languished, left unresolved due to Henley’s mental health.

An attorney for Barbara Henley, the legal guardian of Willie Henley, filed a lawsuit in State Supreme Court. Attorneys for the city had the case moved to federal court because the case involves alleged civil rights violations. The lack of progress in this criminal case has held up a related civil lawsuit against Schultz, Peron, the Buffalo Police Department and the City of Buffalo. Henley has waited almost five years for a criminal verdict, and more than three for his civil case to move forward.