Jay Tokasz, The Buffalo News, N.Y. –
Gunshots rang in the New Year in Buffalo late Saturday and early Sunday, including in the downtown entertainment district, where thousands of people were celebrating the arrival of 2012.
One of the shootings downtown happened shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday, three blocks from where the New Year’s Eve ball was dropped an hour earlier. Two men ended up in the hospital with ankle injuries.
Tevin A. Morrow, 18, of Buffalo, was arrested and charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the shooting.
The incident occurred at Pearl and West Huron streets, when Morrow apparently fired a gun and the bullets ricocheted off the pavement, striking two men in the ankle area, Buffalo police said.
One of the injured men, Kevin Gastle, 26, of the Town of Boston, was taken to Erie County Medical Center, where he was in stable condition Sunday night.
The second victim, Daniel Gastle, 34, of Orchard Park, was treated in ECMC and released.
Morrow fled the area immediately after the shooting but was quickly apprehended on South Elmwood Avenue, according to police spokesman Michael DeGeorge. Police also recovered what they believe was the gun — a .38-caliber Smith and Wesson — used in the shooting.
The incident occurred about three blocks from the ball drop at the Electric Tower at Huron, Genesee and Washington streets.
Also in the wake of New Year’s Eve celebrations, Buffalo police are investigating a shooting that occurred just after 2:15 a.m. Sunday in the Main-Washington-Chippewa street area.
An 18-year-old Buffalo man told police he was walking in the area, saw some people fighting, then heard a gunshot. The man, whose name was not released, told police he soon realized he was struck in the left shoulder. He was taken by ambulance to ECMC, where he was treated and released, DeGeorge said. Police have a person of interest in the case, DeGeorge said.
Elsewhere across the city:
* Cornell Ladd told police he heard multiple shots while at High and Fox streets on the East Side at about 3:45 a.m. Ladd was struck in the right leg. A spent round was found in the victim’s pants, according to a police report. Ladd was taken to the emergency room at ECMC.
* Markell Ingram reported being shot in the shoulder by an unknown man driving a red Buick Regal. The incident occurred at Fillmore Avenue and Box Street at about 2:15 a.m. Sunday. Ingram was taken to ECMC.
* Doris Johnson, of Buffalo, was shot in the face when two men entered her Moeller Street home at about 11 p.m. Saturday and grabbed a suitcase before fleeing. Johnson’s condition was unavailable.
* Jason Collier was shot in the thigh as he was chased by a man with a gun at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday in the 200 block of Loring Avenue. Collier told police he was stopping at a friend’s home when three unknown men surrounded his vehicle and ordered him and his son out, asking where the weed was, according to a police report. Collier tried to run away but was shot in the left thigh. His son was punched in the head and cut above the left eye by the two other suspects. Collier was taken to ECMC, but his condition was unavailable Sunday night.
