Cleanup begins after Beryl passes through western New York

Don Mammoser sat in his pickup truck Thursday, exhausted and trying to figure out what would come next after a tornado destroyed barns on his East Eden cattle farm.

“Rebuild, I guess,” he said.

He was waiting for his insurance representative to assess the damage and was one of dozens of residents whose property was damaged the day before by tornadoes in three western New York counties.

The National Weather Service office in Buffalo confirmed that four tornadoes, formed by the remnants of Hurricane Beryl, touched down Wednesday afternoon, striking parts of the southern Erie County communities of Eden and West Falls, Arkwright in Chautauqua County and near Darien in Genesee County. The weather service also confirmed two other tornadoes east of Rochester in Wayne and Oswego counties.

Some of the damage was already well known in the region: uprooted trees on the roofs of cars, downed power lines, utility trucks along the roads.

Other damage was sparse and blatant. Destruction stretched for paths a mile or more long. Barns and other structures in tatters. Windows shattered.

“This thing came along and destroyed everything,” Mammoser said.

– Vince Gasparini and Barbara O’Brien

In the minutes before Dae’von Roberts was fatally shot 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” several times as he answered her questions early Wednesday morning, just after midnight.

After the officer asked Roberts to get out of the car, Roberts suddenly put the car in drive and sped off while Ammerman held on to the open door as the car sped down Kensington Avenue, weaving from lane to lane, while Roberts’ 6-year-old cousin sat in the passenger seat.

“You’re gonna kill me, brother. You’re gonna kill me, brother. You’re gonna kill me. You’re gonna kill me, brother,” Ammerman yelled as police said Roberts was driving at speeds in excess of 60 mph.

Twenty-two seconds after Roberts took off, Ammerman fired five shots, all of which police said hit Roberts, 25.

The 6-year-old boy screamed in fear just before Roberts fell out of the car, knocking Ammerman out of the door at the same time.

Ammerman then shouted “Shots fired” as he ran toward the still-moving car as it slowly stopped, and lifted the child from the front seat.

“Are you okay?” Ammerman asks the child. “You’re okay.”

“Yes,” the boy replied.

The fatal encounter between Roberts and Buffalo police is detailed in body camera video released Thursday by the Buffalo Police Department.

(Related article): State attorney general opens investigation into fatal shooting of motorist by Buffalo police

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