A 38-year-old man accused of shooting three police officers and another man on Friday had allegedly tried to break into his ex-girlfriend's house and fired at law enforcement until he was out of ammunition.
Police and the man returned fire, shooting Eric Davis in the upper body at least once, authorities said. Davis died at the scene. His ex-girlfriend had obtained a protection order against him two months ago, after he allegedly threatened to hurt her and, this past summer, had said he would "put a bullet in her head," according to police.
The violence was "100% preventable," officials said during a Monday news conference, but a prime example of how domestic violence can escalate.
“We know domestic violence is a public safety issue,” said Meaghan de Chateauvieux, president and CEO of the Willow Domestic Violence Center who joined police and Mayor Malik Evans at the downtown Public Safety Building. “It does not stay behind closed doors, and when it escalates, it becomes a public safety issue that impacts everyone, including law enforcement and all emergency responders and neighbors and communities.”
According to police:
Officers responded just after 10 p.m. Friday to a residence on Chili Avenue. The caller said his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend, Davis, was trying to break in and might have a gun. When officers arrived, they found Davis on the side of the house. He pulled out a 40-caliber handgun and began firing, shooting two officers, as well as the boyfriend, who returned fire from his legal handgun during the shootout.
Davis ran from the scene before being found at the corner of Arnett Boulevard and Thurston Road. He shot another officer there, who returned fire alongside other police. Davis was shot at least once in the upper body and died at the scene.
Chief David Smith said that domestic incidents are among the most common, and dangerous calls for officers.
“I mean, think about it, officers are going into people's homes to try and mediate these things, make an arrest, if necessary,” Smith said. “Those officers are on someone else's home turf, the folks that live there. They know the environment. They know where possible weapons are. They know what they're going to do or not do."
“You can't take anything for granted,” he continued. “You have to be on your toes 100% of the time.”
Davis has one other criminal conviction for burglary in 2005. At the time of the incident, he also had an active arrest warrant for aggravated harassment involving his ex-girlfriend.
One officer shot suffered minor injuries and was discharged from Strong Memorial Hospital over the weekend. Two others have undergone surgery with more scheduled and are listed in stable and critical but stable condition, respectively.
A fourth officer who returned fire was uninjured. She has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the New York state Attorney General’s Office, a standard procedure in police shootings.
The department has declined to release the names of the officers. Bodyworn camera footage of the incident is expected to be released, but no timeline has been set to do so.
Mayor Malik Evans, who has reviewed the footage, described it as “harrowing.”
"People have said, ‘How are you feeling about this?’” Evans said. “I said, ‘Think about how you would feel if you worked at a company or nonprofit organization, and people that you work with were shot.’ We had three individuals shot in cold blood.”
