BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The man shot by a Buffalo police officer on March 5 had previously been found incompetent by a Hennepin County District Court judge in 2015 on a misdemeanor fifth-degree assault charge, and had “an extensive violent history, which includes two armed robberies and a first-degree rape in Virginia,” according to police records obtained by News 4 Investigates.
On March 5, Buffalo police responded to a 911 call for a mental health crisis at an apartment building on Minnesota Avenue. There, 58-year-old Charles Butler allegedly held three tenants at knifepoint and threatened emergency medical technicians.
Officers JaShawn Collins and Derek Frank Jr., both hired in 2024, and Lt. Michael Norwood — a 13-year department veteran best known as one of the “Singing Cops” — were among those who responded…