samanthajane13
02-26-2009, 10:47 AM
By Dan Herbeck, Lou Michel and Gene Warner
News Staff Reporters
An FBI agent was shot early this morning, apparently by another agent, while executing an arrest warrant during a roundup of major drug trafficking suspects on the city's East Side.
Police would not reveal the agent's name, the extent of his injuries or his condition after he was shot about 6 a.m. while trying to make an arrest at a house on Coit Street.
But two law enforcement officials who know the agent told The Buffalo News that he was in stable condition after suffering a gunshot wound to his shoulder that was not life-threatening.
The wounded agent was seen sitting up, wearing an oxygen mask, as he was taken by ambulance to Erie County Medical Center, where he was reportedly visited by his wife.
FBI officials were tight-lipped about the case this morning, announcing an afternoon press conference about "the dismantlement of a violent major criminal drug enterprise" on the city's East Side.
The gang targeted in the series of drug raids is known on the streets as "31" — a reference to the Harriet Ross Tubman School 31, an elementary school on Stanton Street. Many associates of the gang were either former students of the school, or lived nearby, police said.
So far, none of the defendants' names has been released, but authorities said Damone Brown, a former star at Seneca High School and Syracuse University, is among those targeted for arrest and accused of money laundering. Brown, who formerly played in the National Basketball Association, has been playing this year in a developmental league, authorities said.
"At this point, all I know is that the agent responded to this location to execute an arrest warrant, and he was shot," said Joseph M. Guerra III, who heads drug prosecutions for the U.S. Attorney's office in Buffalo. "I do not know the agent's condition, but he was taken to the Erie County Medical Center."
The agent was part of a large team of law enforcement officers — including federal agents, Buffalo police and state troopers — who were arresting a large group of drug and money-laundering suspects in the pre-dawn hours today.
More than 30 defendants are expected to be arrested today in connection with a drug gang investigation that began in late 2006, Guerra said.
Defendants will appear in federal court today before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder Jr.
"This is considered a major group of drug traffickers in Buffalo," Guerra said.
Three "main people" were targeted in today's drug raids, law enforcement officials said, but they would not say whether the person who was sought for arrest on Coit Street was considered one of those targets.
A neighbor on Coit Street, just south of William Street, between Jefferson and Fillmore avenues, said that since two brothers moved into the two-story wood-frame house about 14 months ago, it became a nuisance to the neighborhood.
"Sooner or later it was going to happen. There was too much traffic in and out of that house. There was music blasting late at night. Cars would pull up and disappear after three or four minutes, " said Peter Colatosti.
More than one gunshot was fired, according to neighbors.
Police removed two pit bulls from the house believed to have belonged to the occupants.
Today's shooting occurred in a well-kept neighborhood of modest two-story homes, in a residential-industrial area across the street from Sahlen Packing Co.
Guerra said the drug probe was conducted by the FBI-led Safe Streets Task Force, which includes members of the Buffalo police, State Police, Amherst police, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, the Erie County Probation office and other law enforcement units.
http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/590859.html
News Staff Reporters
An FBI agent was shot early this morning, apparently by another agent, while executing an arrest warrant during a roundup of major drug trafficking suspects on the city's East Side.
Police would not reveal the agent's name, the extent of his injuries or his condition after he was shot about 6 a.m. while trying to make an arrest at a house on Coit Street.
But two law enforcement officials who know the agent told The Buffalo News that he was in stable condition after suffering a gunshot wound to his shoulder that was not life-threatening.
The wounded agent was seen sitting up, wearing an oxygen mask, as he was taken by ambulance to Erie County Medical Center, where he was reportedly visited by his wife.
FBI officials were tight-lipped about the case this morning, announcing an afternoon press conference about "the dismantlement of a violent major criminal drug enterprise" on the city's East Side.
The gang targeted in the series of drug raids is known on the streets as "31" — a reference to the Harriet Ross Tubman School 31, an elementary school on Stanton Street. Many associates of the gang were either former students of the school, or lived nearby, police said.
So far, none of the defendants' names has been released, but authorities said Damone Brown, a former star at Seneca High School and Syracuse University, is among those targeted for arrest and accused of money laundering. Brown, who formerly played in the National Basketball Association, has been playing this year in a developmental league, authorities said.
"At this point, all I know is that the agent responded to this location to execute an arrest warrant, and he was shot," said Joseph M. Guerra III, who heads drug prosecutions for the U.S. Attorney's office in Buffalo. "I do not know the agent's condition, but he was taken to the Erie County Medical Center."
The agent was part of a large team of law enforcement officers — including federal agents, Buffalo police and state troopers — who were arresting a large group of drug and money-laundering suspects in the pre-dawn hours today.
More than 30 defendants are expected to be arrested today in connection with a drug gang investigation that began in late 2006, Guerra said.
Defendants will appear in federal court today before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder Jr.
"This is considered a major group of drug traffickers in Buffalo," Guerra said.
Three "main people" were targeted in today's drug raids, law enforcement officials said, but they would not say whether the person who was sought for arrest on Coit Street was considered one of those targets.
A neighbor on Coit Street, just south of William Street, between Jefferson and Fillmore avenues, said that since two brothers moved into the two-story wood-frame house about 14 months ago, it became a nuisance to the neighborhood.
"Sooner or later it was going to happen. There was too much traffic in and out of that house. There was music blasting late at night. Cars would pull up and disappear after three or four minutes, " said Peter Colatosti.
More than one gunshot was fired, according to neighbors.
Police removed two pit bulls from the house believed to have belonged to the occupants.
Today's shooting occurred in a well-kept neighborhood of modest two-story homes, in a residential-industrial area across the street from Sahlen Packing Co.
Guerra said the drug probe was conducted by the FBI-led Safe Streets Task Force, which includes members of the Buffalo police, State Police, Amherst police, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, the Erie County Probation office and other law enforcement units.
http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/590859.html