Children’s rights advocates call for resources for kids after boy witnesses fatal shooting

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A 6-year-old boy was caught in the middle of a deadly encounter between Buffalo police and a driver early Wednesday on Kensington Avenue, all captured on police body camera video.

The boy was sitting in the front passenger seat of the vehicle driven by Dae’von Roberts, 25. He is the son of Roberts’ cousin.

Roberts was pulled over by Buffalo police for speeding and tinted windows. That’s when they noticed the little boy sitting in the front seat, not wearing a seat belt.

The traffic stop started calmly, then one of the officers asked Roberts to get out of the car after not finding a valid driver’s license for him in the system.

The officer reached inside the car to open the door and was standing in the space between the door and the driver’s seat when Roberts attempted to flee.

“The officer said, ‘You’re going to kill me, you’re going to kill me.’ He was begging him to stop,” Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said.

Seconds later, the officer fired his gun five times. The officer and Roberts fell out of the vehicle while the little boy was still inside. Amazingly, he was not injured and the officer ran to rescue him.

Police released body camera video of the incident on Thursday.

Thousands of people have seen the video and the trauma the child suffered.

“When the police left, the ambulance left, the fire trucks left. Who is talking to this six-year-old about what he just witnessed?” asked Zeneta Everhart, who represents Masten’s district on the Buffalo City Council. She is the mother of Zaire Goodman, a Tops supermarket employee who survived a racist attack on May 14, 2022, at the Jefferson Avenue grocery store.

She is advocating for the city to create a Gun Violence Prevention Office and said providing counseling to children who witness trauma would be part of that.

“These are human beings. We have to look at the human aspect of this as well. These are babies that are going to be growing up in our community. We have to make sure they’re okay,” Everhart told 7 News Senior Reporter Maki Becker.

Kareema Morris, executive director of Bury the Violence, tells 7 News that children in the city are dealing with all kinds of trauma and need help, especially this little boy.

“We need to hear his perspective. Meet him where he is and provide him with resources and counseling and things like that, because we can’t change what he’s seen,” Morris said.

She said there are organizations that provide help, like Back to Basics Ministries and the Buffalo Urban League, but counseling services for children are hard to find. She said the waiting lists are long. She hopes there will be more.

You can find more information about other resources here.