BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The man who set fire to a car parked in front of an Elmwood Avenue apartment building Thursday is the same person who was shot and killed minutes later around the corner on Potomac Avenue, according to Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia.
“The shooting was targeted,” Gramaglia told 7 New Friday. “I think the entire event was targeted.”
No arrests have been made so far and police have not released the name of the man who was killed.
Gramaglia said homicide detectives are making progress. They’ve been able to gather security camera video from the vicinity.
Mark DeGolyer, who lives near the fire scene, said he believes he saw the arson unfold.
DeGolyer: “I saw this guy walking up to a vehicle and we made eye contact. He smiled. I thought it was DoorDash. I saw him drop something in the vehicle...I got a text from my husband. He goes, 'The car's on fire' and I was like ‘Oh my God, I just saw a guy drop something into that.'”
Another neighbor, John Cromwell, who was out walking his dog Friday, said he didn’t realize the noises outside were gunshots.
Cromwell: “I was in the back of my house and I associated it with the construction on the corner."
But then he saw the police cars and fire trucks outside.
A neighbor said off camera that she tried to help the man who had been shot. She held his hand and tried to comfort him. Another man ran up and did chest compressions. But there was nothing they could do to save him.
Me: “How does this make you feel?”
DeGolyer: “Freaked out…I've been here for a couple of years and this is kind of my dream neighborhood.”
Cromwell: “There's more that goes on here than meets the eye…This isn’t the country.”
