Man fatally shot by Orchard Park police identified; Chief reveals details, calls shooting 'justified'

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- New details are emerging surrounding the fatal shooting of a man by Orchard Park Police Department officers on the evening of Aug. 30.

Orchard Park Chief of Police Patrick Fitzgerald is scheduled to take questions from the media during a news conference at 10 a.m. Saturday. Ahead of that meeting, he provided WIVB News 4 with information about what he says occurred on Aug. 30.

The 911 call

Fitzgerald told WIVB in a phone interview Thursday night that 31-year-old James Tighe Cushman of the Town of Orchard Park dialed 911 to report that his mother was outside of his home with a gun and that he was armed with a knife.

Before officers arrived at the Hawthorne Drive residence, Cushman told the dispatcher "I'm going out man," according to Fitzgerald. He said when the dispatcher questioned what Cushman meant, the Orchard Park man said "I'm going out with a bang."

The exact timeline of the call has yet to be disclosed.

Orchard Park police intend to release the 911 call during Saturday's news conference.

The scene

When the first officer arrived at the Hawthorne Drive home, Cushman, armed with a knife, chased after the officer around the back of his patrol car, according to Fitzgerald. Police said an officer had Cushman at gunpoint and was commanding him to drop the knife.

Cushman then retreated to the driveway and yelled at the officer "You should have done it, dude," Fitzgerald said.

Shortly after, Fitzgerald said a second officer arrived at the scene. He claimed Cushman ran at both officers with the knife in hand, stopping short of the police cruisers' bumpers.

Fitzgerald said Cushman then walked back into the driveway and yelled at the officers "You should have shot me, dude. You should have f------ shot me, bro. Why didn't you shoot me?"

Officers continued to command the 31-year-old to drop the knife, and during the confrontation, Cushman put the knife down on top of the mailbox and walked toward the house, according to Fitzgerald.

While this was happening, police said Cushman's mother was standing on the front porch and went back into the house after commands from officers to create distance between the mother and son.

It was at this point that a third officer arrived, and soon after, Cushman allegedly came down the driveway, retrieved the knife and chased the officers around the back of their vehicles, according to Fitzgerald.

As Cushman allegedly ran toward the officers, he was shot seven times by Orchard Park Police officers Thomas Fowler and Tanner Till, Fitzgerald said.

Fowler has been on the job for five years while Till has been with the department for one year. Both officers are now on administrative leave in accordance with protocol, according to police.

Fitzgerald said the officers immediately tried to administer lifesaving treatment and called for EMS. Cushman was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to the New York State Attorney General's Office.

The knife allegedly used by the 31 year old was recovered at the scene.

Fitzgerald said that after speaking with his officers as part of an internal investigation, he believes the use of deadly force was justified.

"I have had the opportunity to meet and interview the officers," Fitzgerald said. "They have been absolutely forthcoming with information regarding what occurred that night. The investigation at this point indicates that this is a justified use of deadly physical force by the officers. They've abided by all department policy and procedure. They were put in just a terrible position on Friday night."

The State AG's Office is also investigating, as is standard in all officer-involved shootings in New York State.

The video

Fitzgerald said a doorbell camera captured the incident and that footage will be made available to the public on Saturday.

But were the officers wearing body cameras? According to Fitzgerald, the answer is no.

Orchard Park was one of the first police departments in Western New York to have body-worn cameras in 2016. However, about three years ago officers, stopped wearing the cameras as the equipment aged and stopped functioning, Fitzgerald said.

"You could boil it down to antiquated hardware," Fitzgerald said. "The battery life on the cameras diminishes to the point where they no longer function for long periods of time. Our officers work 12-hour shifts. I guess the firmware updates on the devices are no longer compatible with new versions of Windows software."

Fitzgerald pointed to the cost of replacing those cameras, purchasing cloud storage and licensing fees in recent years. WIVB was told the department previously utilized on-site storage for the video evidence as opposed to cloud storage.

"The cost of replacing body cameras '23-'24, is significantly more than when we purchased body cameras back in 2016 when we first started our body camera program," Fitzgerald said.

The cameras should be making a return soon because the department was approved for a New York State technology grant to purchase the hardware, Fitzgerald said. He requested the Town of Orchard Park provide additional money for the program in the 2025 budget, and that funding would go towards the costs associated with licensing and storage.

Fitzgerald said the department is finalizing which body camera manufacturer they plan to buy from.

"We've got to find what's best for us and for our department," Fitzgerald said. "And also what we're able to afford. And we've come up with the funding. We've come up with what we need in order to get them. It's just a matter of selecting the manufacturer that is going to give us what's best."