‘A painful day’: 3-year-old boy killed, his sister injured in Buffalo shooting

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A 3-year-old boy was killed and his 7-year-old sister was injured after a shooting Friday night in Buffalo, police officials said.

Police responded around 9:30 p.m. to the first block of Domedion Avenue, where officials said two young children had been shot during an outdoor family gathering.

Both children were taken to local hospitals, with the 3-year-old being rushed in a police vehicle to ECMC where he was later declared deceased. The 7-year-old girl was grazed by gunfire and is being treated at Oishei Children’s Hospital.

“I am heartbroken by what occurred,” Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown said during a Saturday press conference on the shooting. “I think all of us are sick and tired of standing up and announcing situations like this to the community.”

No arrests have been made in connection with the shooting, but Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said that a gun was recovered and is currently being tested and that two persons of interest were interviewed and released Friday night.

Gramaglia said the target of the shooting is unknown but that “there’s no way” it was the children, adding that the current belief is there was one shooter and one gun. He declined to go into further detail on how the shooting happened.

Officials repeatedly expressed their sadness and frustration about the shooting, with Brown praising the children’s mother, Shakenya Griffin, as a “strong woman” and active figure in the community with Most Valuable Parents, working to keep families and children safe.

Additionally, officials strongly called out lawmakers for their inaction regarding gun violence.

“There are too many illegal guns on the streets of the United States of America, and something could be done about it in a heartbeat if 50 percent of the lawmakers in Washington D.C. didn’t value the gun lobby over human life,” Brown said. “This is a difficult day for all of us, this is a painful day for all of us.”

“This family out on the street just trying to enjoy a beautiful summer night, and they’re not allowed to do so because of the violence taking place,” Buffalo Common Council President Chris Scanlon added. “If certain legislators had incidents like this taking place on the corners of the Middlesexes and the Nottinghams of the world, you would see them fighting to have the National Guard out in those neighborhoods to protect against this type of stupid, senseless violence.”

With no arrests made, officials continued to call on the public to come forward with information regarding the shooting.

“We are receiving cooperation, good cooperation, I would like to receive more,” Gramaglia said. “We are talking about a 3-year-old baby that didn’t see his fourth birthday. We need your help.”

Anyone with information is asked to text or call Buffalo police’s confidential tip line at (716) 847-2255.

You can watch the full Saturday press conference with City of Buffalo officials above.

Kayleigh Hunter-Gasperini joined the News 4 team in 2024 as a Digital Video Producer. She is a graduate of Chatham University.