HAMBURG, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Hamburg Police Department says an officer shot and killed 36-year-old Lisa Haight of Jamestown on Friday morning. Police say she broke into two homes and officers found her inside the second home on McKinley Parkway.
According to police, the subject was tracked to a residence on McKinley Parkway and officers found an open door to that residence.
Police said officers announced themselves, made entry to clear the house, and encountered Haight. An altercation ensued and the officer discharged their weapon, striking Haight. Officers immediately rendered aid and EMS was notified and responded, despite all efforts Haight was pronounced dead at the scene.
Earlier that morning, Haight was traveling in a private van on the thruway and stabbed a passenger repeatedly, police said. After the stabbing, Haight exited the van in Hamburg to a home on Willet Road. The victim was taken to the hospital with serious injuries to their face, head, and shoulder.
Jeff Rinaldo, a retired Buffalo Police Captain, worked during shootings involving officers.
"This will be a very lengthy investigation," Rinaldo said.
He said with the Attorney General's office investigating, he wouldn't be surprised if this takes more than a year.
"Sounds like at this point that there's multiple crime scenes that are involved. so there's a lot of evidence to be collected from potentially three different scenes, a lot of interviews, a lot of witness statements," he said. "No matter where you are, where you live, where an officer calls their patrol beat, that in a blink of an eye, situation can turn deadly and forces an officer to have to make a decision to use deadly physical force to defend themselves."
7 News did reach out to defense attorney Tom Burton who is representing the officer who fired the deadly shot. He said that "every inclination is this was a justifiable use of deadly force."
“A police officer doesn’t have to get cut, hurt or worse before he uses deadly force to defend himself. Citizens don’t have to go forward. Police do. And that’s where the law gives the benefit of the doubt to a law enforcement officer," Burton added. "In this state, a police officer never has a duty to retreat from a deadly force encounter.”
Two days after the death of her sister, Brandi Haight, 33 of Jamestown faces charges in an unrelated case.
Haight forced her way into a house in Jamestown Saturday Night, per police, grabbed a knife from the kitchen, kicked a door in and stabbed a victim in the face. The name and condition of the victim are unknown.
Hamburg police will provide an update on the investigation on Tuesday.
