Orchard Park Police identifies officers involved in fatal shooting Friday night

Orchard Park, N.Y. (WBEN) - The Orchard Park Police Department on Wednesday released the names of the two officers involved in a fatal shooting this past Friday evening on Hawthorne Drive.

Officials confirm the two officers as Officer Thomas Fowler, a five-year veteran of law enforcement, and Officer Tanner Till, who has been with the department for one year.

Both officers remain on administrative leave and are said to be fully cooperating with the investigation. The Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigations formally announced Tuesday it is investigating Friday's officer-involved shooting, as is the standard under New York State law.

Orchard Park police have also met with the family of the deceased to review the video and audio of Friday's incident, at the family's request.

Since the media was led to believe there was no body camera footage of the incident, we can only believe the footage may have come from cameras installed outside someone's house, like a RING doorbell camera.

"Almost every single house now has either a RING camera, a doorbell camera or some other type of video, so the chances of any interaction with the police being captured on video is pretty high," said Jeff Rinaldo, vice president of operations at Vista Security Group.

"As to whether or not they have body cameras or if there's body camera footage, I can't answer that, because I'm not sure what their policy is but more than likely, there's other video sources as well involved in the incident."

In addition to the New York State Attorney General’s Office investigating Friday's officer-involved shooting, Rinaldo notes that Orchard Park Police is conducting its own investigation, parallel to the AG.

"It is an active investigation, and every agency handles the dissemination of information as they see appropriate. In this case, like any case where an officer uses deadly physical force, you have the New York State Attorney General's office involved in the investigation. If the department wants to be able to ensure that the information that's being released is being done so in the proper manner, then I think the community has to respect that agency's decisions. And ultimately, the New York State Attorney General's office, when it issues its final report on the incident, will release any and all evidence that they looked at in terms of making their determination as to whether or not the officer's conduct was lawful," said Rinaldo.

Officials are scheduled to provide another update into this past Friday's shooting on Saturday to accommodate for the family's out-of-town travel.