A Niagara Falls police officer has been placed on administrative leave following a shooting during a drug raid Wednesday night. An occupant of the raided house was taken to ECMC for treatment of a bullet wound.
Police Superintendent Bryan DalPorto is being cautious with details as an investigation begins. He wouldn't identify the wounded man, although a community web site in the Cataract City says he is Stacey Lewis, with the superintendent saying the man went to Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center and then went by surface ambulance to ECMC.
Dal Porto says the man shot in 488 20th St. is known to officers and that's why the drug raid occurred and the single shot was fired. He says the Emergency Response Unit was there to serve a warrant and things went bad.
"They encountered some resistance from the suspect inside the house. There was also some movement inside the house, as officers approached the house to execute the search warrant. They made entry into the house. At some point during the entry an officer discharged his weapon, striking the person that was inside of the house," DalPorto said.
The male officer is on administrative leave as the department probe continues. DalPorto says an assault-style weapon was found in the house as well as a quantity of what are believed to be narcotics.
