The suspect accused of gunning down four people outside the City Grill is being held without bail after pleading not guilty. 23-year-old Riccardo McCray faces four counts of second-degree murder in connection with the August 14th incident. The case now heads to a grand jury, with the next court date is scheduled for next Wednesday. McCray surrendered to police Wednesday at Channel 4 after an intense manhunt. Authorities say the shootings may have been targeted, and at least one may have been execution-style. Investigators believe the gunfire broke out after a fight between rival gang members.
Buffalo Police have released surveillance photos from a robbery at a Bailey Avenue bank. The heist occurred at about 11:30 a.m. yesterday at the HSBC branch in the 31-hundred block of Bailey. The robber entered the bank and handed the teller a note requesting an undisclosed amount of money. Police believe the suspect fled on a bicycle. The suspect is described a black man with a medium build who was wearing all black with a black and red logo Yankees hat. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Confidential TIPCALL Line at 847-2255.
The Orchard park businessman accused of beheading his wife had to be dragged out of court because he wouldn’t stop yelling. Forty-five-year-old Muzzammil Hassan first had to be involuntarily brought into the courtroom by law enforcement after he refused to enter. After just a few minutes of ranting that the judge was “voodoo” and “evil,” he was removed by a half dozen sheriff’s deputies. Hassan is accused of killing 37-year-old Aasiya Hassan on February 12th of last year, a week after she filed for divorce. Jury selection is slated to begin on September 8th.
A Newfane man is dead following a freak accident on a lawnmower. 62-year-old Leroy Gommer was helping his 71-year-old brother-in-law pull a lawnmower out of a pond Wednesday night. Investigators say Gommer was sitting on his large lawn tractor when it tipped over into the pond, pinning Gommer underneath. The brother-in-lawn tried hooking a chain to a pickup truck to try and lift the lawnmower out but it was not successful. Ambulance workers responding to the scene were not able to revive Gommer.
Erie County Sheriff’s deputies pulled a body from the Niagara River last night. Buffalo police say they received word of an apparent drowning near Harry’s Harbour Place off Niagara Street at about 7 p.m. The body was spotted by a boater, and authorities believe it belongs to an individual for whom they’d been searching. Foul play is not suspected and police believe the victim accidentally drowned.
A Cattaraugus County man will spend five years behind bars for an attempted abduction. Prosecutors say 28-year-old Eric Allen of Little Valley was handed that sentence yesterday after pleading guilty back in November. Authorities say the attempted kidnapping happened in the City of Salamanca.
Two planes bound for Rochester had to diverted to Buffalo after an explosion near the Rochester airport. AirTran and American Eagle flights touched down in Buffalo at about 1 p.m. yesterday. A hydrogen tank burst into flames at a Monroe County fueling station.
A independent counsel report says that Governor David Paterson may have misled investigators when he testified that he intended to pay for World Series tickets. It’s now up to the Albany District Attorney to decide whether to prosecute the governor for perjury. Aides to Paterson obtained five tickets to Game One of the 2009 World Series in Yankee Stadium, and The state’s Commission of Public Integrity concluded Paterson lied during testimony about the tickets.
Anger and frustration is mounting among the state’s Native American nations as the start date nears for collection of cigarette taxes. Following a meeting among the six Iroquois tribes earlier this week, tribal leaders are still deciding on ways to mobilize if the state decides to implement the collections on September 1st. A lawsuit has already been filed to prevent the tax, and the Onondaga Nation has decided to move its operations from Angola to get around the law.
The Empire Center updated its list of salaries for local, county and state government workers on Thursday. The highest county and regional salaries were from Lewis, Rockland and Suffolk counties. The center says releasing the information from the State Comptroller’s Office allows them to promote a more transparent government throughout the state.
