Jennifer Good, City Editor

            Less than two weeks after a shooting at the Marriott Residence Inn in Amherst, the Buffalo area endured another violent shooting Monday afternoon near South Elmwood Avenue.

            The situation resulted in a Buffalo police hostage negotiator being shot in the face. The gunman was killed shortly after.

            On Tuesday, the Buffalo Police identified the gunman as Eric Ocasio, 27. An autopsy confirmed Ocasio’s cause of death to be gunshot wounds.

            “An initial investigation by Buffalo Police Homicide Detectives and the Internal Affairs Division has determined that the suspect was struck twice by Buffalo Police SWAT Officers,” said Dennis J. Richards, Chief of Detectives.

            The incident started at 10:18 a.m., when officers in the downtown Buffalo district and Buffalo firefighters responded to a “check the welfare” call at 57 Trinity Place, indicating that an individual was having suicidal thoughts.

            At 10:45 a.m., the Buffalo SWAT Team and Hostage Management Team were called to the scene after reports of shots fired. This incident has yet to be confirmed, according to a press release from the Buffalo Police Department.

            At approximately 12:30 p.m., Detective John C. Garcia, 47, a member of the Hostage Management Team, was struck in the face and parts of the upper body by about a half-dozen pellets while trying to defuse the situation, according to police spokesman Mike DeGeorge.

            Garcia’s injuries were located dangerously close to his right eye but were not considered life threatening. He was taken to Erie Country Medical Center, where he was treated and released Monday evening.

            According to DeGeorge, “the department is relieved that [Garcia’s] injuries were not serious.”

            Due to police cordoning off the surrounding streets, Clint Zimmerman, a Buffalo State College student, was unable to get to his own home for lunch and art supplies.

            “I went home at about 12:30 … there was a police cruiser saying I couldn’t go down the street,” Zimmerman said.

            Even though the shooting occurred directly adjacent to their own home, Zimmerman and roommate Tanya Burgos, 22, remained calm over the situation.

            “It’s Buffalo. I expect things like this to happen from time to time. I don’t feel any less safe,” Zimmerman said. “It’s got to happen somewhere, but when it does happen [across the street from your house], it just makes you kind of stop and say, ‘Whoa.’”

            Burgos, the only roommate in the house as the incident was going on, had little to say on the matter.

            “I just saw a whole bunch of police officers and SWAT team members running around. It was kind of scary,” Burgos said. “I grew up in a dangerous neighborhood, though, and have never heard that many gunshots in a row before.”

            According to the Buffalo Police Department press release, there was communication between authorities and Ocasio, who was alone on the second floor of the rear house, throughout the entire duration of the situation. The hopes of reasoning with the man lasted until approximately 2:45 p.m., when gunfire erupted and emitted clouds of blue smoke from the roof of the house.

            Within 15 minutes of the gunfire, the SWAT team was then able to clear the building with a flash-bang device. Police entered to find Ocasio dead inside, with a shotgun lying nearby.

            As of now, Monday’s incident remains under investigation by the Homicide Squad and Internal Affairs Division, and they will have further details at a later time.

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