A police officer fatally shot a man on Wednesday in Buffalo, New York, because the suspect, whom the officer had pulled over for a traffic stop, dragged him with a speeding car.
Before the harrowing incident, Officer Ronald Ammerman stopped Dae’von Roberts, 25, around midnight for speeding and having tinted windows on the car he was driving, law enforcement said, the New York Post reported on Friday.
An image shows the suspect during the traffic stop:
Watch: Video shows Buffalo man killed by police sped off with officer clinging to car https://t.co/vO8wpnl6D7
— The Buffalo News (@TheBuffaloNews) July 11, 2024
When Ammerman approached the driver as he sat inside the vehicle, he realized there was no seatbelt on the six-year-old boy seated next to him.
Roberts complied when the officer asked him for identification, telling him he was from Georgia and driving his sister’s car. However, the officer determined the photo of the ID on Roberts’ phone was invalid; he was not licensed in either Georgia or New York.
When the officer told Roberts that he and his fellow officer would run his name another way, the officer opened the car door. That was the moment Roberts hit the gas and sped away from the scene with Ammerman clinging to the car’s open door.
Video footage from PoliceActivity shows the tense moments the officer holds onto the car, telling Roberts, “You’re gonna kill me, bro! You’re gonna kill me, bro! You’re gonna kill me!” as the car appears to pick up speed.
The child in the passenger seat is heard screaming as the car careens down the road. Moments later, Ammerman is able to grab his gun and fire several times at Roberts, who jumps out of the car at the officer.
The suspect then falls to the ground as the officer yells, “Shots fired! Shots fired!” adding, “He tried killing me!”
Terrifying moment driver with six-year-old boy in the front seat speeds off with cop clinging to door as routine traffic stop takes a tragic turn: Shocking bodycam footage captured the moment a Buffalo police officer clung to speeding suspect Daevon… https://t.co/ixEFGsvShJ pic.twitter.com/1E1jPKrkgo
— Janie Johnson – America is Exceptional (@jjauthor) July 12, 2024
Moments later, Ammerman runs to the vehicle and retrieves the child. “Are you okay?” He asks him, to which the child replies, “Yes.”
Crews rushed the suspect to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
It is important to note that “Roberts was previously indicted for allegedly trying to shoot someone on April 22, 2024, at a vigil for his brother Jaylen Griffin. He faced charges for attempted assault and criminal possession of a weapon,” Spectrum News 1 reported Thursday, noting that Griffin’s body was found in 2024 after he went missing more than three years before.
Video footage from the other officer’s body camera shows the moment the suspect took off with Ammerman clinging to the car:
When speaking of the incident, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia told reporters that the clip of the incident was “extremely traumatic,” WKBW reported Wednesday.
The outlet noted that a police search of the vehicle revealed a handgun underneath the driver’s seat.
The commissioner has called the incident “a justified use of force” because the officer was at high risk of serious physical injury or death. Both officers are currently on administrative leave due to the department’s policy.
“This is real life. There’s not a lot of control the way some of these situations go down,” Gramaglia said. “We can train for various situations, but, when it happens in real life, when there are actual situations, they always happen differently than what they do in a training facility.”