Buffalo shooting leaves 3-year-old boy on tricycle dead, 7-year-old sister injured | News

BUFFALO — A 3-year-old boy riding a tricycle was fatally shot and his 7-year-old sister was grazed by gunfire during a family gathering in Buffalo, officials said Saturday.

Children were not targeted in Friday night’s shooting on a city street, Mayor Byron Brown said. Police believe there was a single shooter and were searching for a suspect Saturday.

“A 3-year-old child on his tricycle, having fun with his family members on a hot summer night, his 7-year-old big sister by his side, and out of nowhere gunshots ring out. And the children are being hit by gunfire,” Brown said at a news conference.

Officers transported the unidentified boy in a police car to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The girl’s injuries are not life-threatening, Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said. He declined to provide further details about the shooting and said the investigation was continuing.

The police chief said investigators recovered a weapon Friday evening and were testing it, but no further information about the weapon was provided. Brown and other officials at the news conference decried the number of illegal guns on city streets.

“I’m heartbroken today,” said Brown, who added that the children’s mother was active in the community.