![Dae'von Roberts police body cam](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/4c/14cc2ea4-3fb2-11ef-b63a-c34085cf2a05/669023003580b.image.jpg?resize=150%2C80 150w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/4c/14cc2ea4-3fb2-11ef-b63a-c34085cf2a05/669023003580b.image.jpg?resize=200%2C107 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/4c/14cc2ea4-3fb2-11ef-b63a-c34085cf2a05/669023003580b.image.jpg?resize=225%2C120 225w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/4c/14cc2ea4-3fb2-11ef-b63a-c34085cf2a05/669023003580b.image.jpg?resize=300%2C160 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/4c/14cc2ea4-3fb2-11ef-b63a-c34085cf2a05/669023003580b.image.jpg?resize=400%2C214 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/4c/14cc2ea4-3fb2-11ef-b63a-c34085cf2a05/669023003580b.image.jpg?resize=540%2C288 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/4c/14cc2ea4-3fb2-11ef-b63a-c34085cf2a05/669023003580b.image.jpg?resize=640%2C342 640w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/4c/14cc2ea4-3fb2-11ef-b63a-c34085cf2a05/669023003580b.image.jpg?resize=750%2C400 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/4c/14cc2ea4-3fb2-11ef-b63a-c34085cf2a05/669023003580b.image.jpg?resize=990%2C528 990w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/4c/14cc2ea4-3fb2-11ef-b63a-c34085cf2a05/669023003580b.image.jpg?resize=1035%2C552 1035w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/4c/14cc2ea4-3fb2-11ef-b63a-c34085cf2a05/669023003580b.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C641 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/4c/14cc2ea4-3fb2-11ef-b63a-c34085cf2a05/669023003580b.image.jpg?resize=1333%2C712 1333w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/4c/14cc2ea4-3fb2-11ef-b63a-c34085cf2a05/669023003580b.image.jpg?resize=1476%2C788 1476w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/buffalonews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/4c/14cc2ea4-3fb2-11ef-b63a-c34085cf2a05/669023003580b.image.jpg?resize=1879%2C1003 2008w)
Dae'von Roberts speaks with Buffalo Police Officer Ronald Ammerman during a traffic stop on Kensington Avenue shortly after midnight on July 10, 2024.
In the minutes before Dae’von Roberts was shot and killed by Buffalo Police Officer Ronald Ammerman, the officer and Roberts had a calm exchange about the status of his driver’s license.
Roberts politely called the officer “sir” repeatedly as he answered his questions early Wednesday morning, just after midnight.
After the officer asked Roberts to step outside of the car, Roberts suddenly shifted the car into drive and sped off while Ammerman clung to the open door as the car hurtled down Kensington Avenue, weaving from lane to lane, all while Roberts’ 6-year-old cousin sat in the passenger seat.
“You’re going to kill me, bro. You’re going to kill me, bro. You’re going to kill me. You’re going to kill me, bro,” Ammerman screamed as police said Roberts drove at speeds exceeding 60 mph.
Twenty-two seconds after Roberts took off, Ammerman fired five shots, all of which police say hit Roberts, 25.
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WARNING: Video contains graphic images and language.
The 6-year-old boy cried out in fear just before Roberts tumbled out of the car, knocking Ammerman off the door at the same time.
Ammerman then yelled “Shots fired,” as he ran toward the still moving car as it slowly comes to a stop, and lifted the child out of the front seat.
“Are you OK?” Ammerman asks the child. “You’re OK.”
“Yes,” the boy replied.
The deadly encounter between Roberts and Buffalo police is detailed in video from police body-worn cameras released Thursday by the Buffalo Police Department.
The video camera panned down just as Ammerman fired his shots and appears to show Roberts kicking at Ammerman.
The police also released video from Officer Jonathan Crawford’s body camera. Crawford was riding with Ammerman when they stopped Roberts’ car for speeding.
The officers explained that he was stopped because he was speeding and because the windows were tinted. They also told him that the boy in the front seat was supposed to be in a car seat.
Roberts told the officers the car belonged to his sister.
“Yeah bro, I swear to God I get pulled over every day,” Roberts says calmly.
Ammerman asked Roberts why, if he’s getting pulled over so often, he doesn’t remove the tints from the windows.
He doesn’t live here and it’s not his car, he tells the officer.
Roberts mentions to the officers that his half-brother, Jaylen Griffin, was the missing 12-year-old boy who was found dead in April.
“My brother just died. Jaylen Griffin, that came up missing, fall of 2020, the baby,” Roberts tells Ammerman.
“Yeah, that’s sad,” Ammerman said.
“That’s my baby brother, bro,” Roberts said.
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Jaylen Griffin, left, and his older half-brother Dae'von Roberts, in a photo uploaded to Roberts' Facebook page on May 19, 2018. Griffin went missing as a 12-year-old in August 2020 and police determined he was a homicide victim when his body was found in April in a house in South Buffalo. Roberts was fatally shot Wednesday by Buffalo police.
As the car speeds away Crawford briefly ran toward it before turning back to get in the police cruiser and follow Roberts’ vehicle, stopping after Roberts falls out of the car.
As civilian vehicles continue down the street, Crawford yells for them to get away while pointing his gun toward Roberts and telling him not to move. Roberts lays face down in the middle of Kensington Avenue, his feet moving slowly.
More officers arrive on the scene and begin medical treatment on Roberts, scrambling for medical gloves as they flip him onto his back.
Roberts was pronounced dead at Erie County Medical Center.
At a news conference at 3 p.m. Thursday, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said he believes there was a justified use of force by Ammerman.
“When you take into account the fact that the officer found himself in a grave risk of serious physical injury or death, the use of that level of force is justified by law and I do believe that is a justified use of force in that case,” Gramaglia said.
“A vehicle can be a deadly weapon,” he said.
He said Roberts did not have a valid driver’s license in New York or Georgia. A handgun found under the driver’s seat was reported stolen in Greensboro, N.C., in May 2020, Gramaglia said.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia on Thursday said he believes the shooting of Dae’von Roberts on Wednesday was justified.
Gramaglia said police showed redacted and unredacted versions of the body camera video to Roberts’ family Thursday morning.
Ammerman, an officer for 7½ years, and Crawford, an officer for two years, are on administrative leave while the police department investigates the fatal shooting.
The New York State Attorney General’s Office said Thursday it has opened an investigation into Wednesday’s fatal shooting by a Buffalo police officer. State law requires the Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation to assess incidents in which police officers may cause the death of a person. If investigators conclude the officer may have caused the death, a full investigation follows.
Roberts was charged in a shooting in which no one was injured that happened April 22 during a memorial for his half-brother in the vicinity of Memorial Drive and Sweet Avenue.
Roberts was arraigned June 4 on an indictment charging him with attempted assault and weapons possession, according to the Erie County District Attorney’s Office. He had a court date scheduled in the case for July 23, according to court records.
The brothers’ mother, Joann Ponzo, died Sept. 18, 2023, at 48.
Jaylen’s older brother, Jawaan Griffin, was killed in a shooting on Memorial Drive in November 2020. He was 18.
“Obviously this is a very sad situation all the way around,” Gramaglia said. “This family’s been through a lot over the last several years, and I certainly expressed my acknowledgement of that fact.”
This isn’t the first time Ammerman has come under scrutiny.
Ammerman’s use of force during a May 2020 traffic stop came under scrutiny the following year as court paperwork was filed as a precursor to a lawsuit.
An investigation by the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office concluded with no charges against Ammerman and another officer.