Two people are dead and a Buffalo man is charged with their murders, which occurred just hours apart.
Michael Moore, 31, of Crestwood Avenue, was arrested Saturday and accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend late Friday in their North Buffalo house, then killing another man early Saturday outside a store at Bailey Avenue and East Ferry Street, Buffalo police said.
Police late Saturday still had not released the names of the victims and were waiting until family members had been notified.
Moore, meanwhile, was charged with second-degree murder, a police spokesman said. He is accused of shooting his 30-year-old girlfriend in the couple’s home on Crestwood, near Hertel Avenue, before 11 p.m. Friday.
Her body was discovered by police officers late Friday, after authorities were called to check on the welfare of the resident at the address, said Chief of Detectives Dennis J. Richards.
Then, after 1 a.m. Saturday, Moore shot the man outside the Ferry Express Mart 4 store and gas station at 2239 Bailey, according to police.
The assumption might be that this was a lover’s triangle gone bad.
“That’s not the case at all,” Richards said.
The shooting death of the woman was a tragic case of domestic violence, while Moore and his other victim had a previous run-in or dispute of some type, investigators believe.
“We’re not sure what precipitated the first shooting, but she was killed in the bedroom of the house,” Richards said. “The second victim is known to the suspect, but it’s not believed to be related in any way to the original shooting.”
Here is what happened outside the store on Bailey, according to a witness who asked not to be identified.
The victim, also in his early 30s, drove a vehicle up to a gas pumps and he and a female passenger waited in the vehicle for about five minutes until the suspect showed up in a vehicle, got out, walked up to the victim’s vehicle and knocked on the driver’s window.
The victim rolled down his window and the two men shook hands.
“He sat in the car like he was waiting for the guy,” the witness said.
They talked for less than a minute when Moore pulled out a gun and started firing, the witness said.
“The next thing I hear is pop-pop-pop,” the witness said.
The female in the vehicle – who watched the shooting unfold before her eyes – was hysterical, as she ran around the parking lot and in and out of the store, the witness recalled.
Meanwhile, the suspect fled.
Moore lived on Crestwood, but also had an address on Wyoming Avenue, where police caught up with him Saturday, after a brief standoff, authorities said.
The girlfriend was the mother of two, but it was unclear Saturday if they were Moore’s children. The children were not home at the time of the shooting and are now with family, Richards said.
The case is being investigated by Homicide Squad Detectives Brian Ross, Anthony Borrelli, Mario Pratts and David Rambino.
email: lhammill@buffnews.com and jrey@buffnews.com
Michael Moore, 31, of Crestwood Avenue, was arrested Saturday and accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend late Friday in their North Buffalo house, then killing another man early Saturday outside a store at Bailey Avenue and East Ferry Street, Buffalo police said.
Police late Saturday still had not released the names of the victims and were waiting until family members had been notified.
Moore, meanwhile, was charged with second-degree murder, a police spokesman said. He is accused of shooting his 30-year-old girlfriend in the couple’s home on Crestwood, near Hertel Avenue, before 11 p.m. Friday.
Her body was discovered by police officers late Friday, after authorities were called to check on the welfare of the resident at the address, said Chief of Detectives Dennis J. Richards.
Then, after 1 a.m. Saturday, Moore shot the man outside the Ferry Express Mart 4 store and gas station at 2239 Bailey, according to police.
The assumption might be that this was a lover’s triangle gone bad.
“That’s not the case at all,” Richards said.
The shooting death of the woman was a tragic case of domestic violence, while Moore and his other victim had a previous run-in or dispute of some type, investigators believe.
“We’re not sure what precipitated the first shooting, but she was killed in the bedroom of the house,” Richards said. “The second victim is known to the suspect, but it’s not believed to be related in any way to the original shooting.”
Here is what happened outside the store on Bailey, according to a witness who asked not to be identified.
The victim, also in his early 30s, drove a vehicle up to a gas pumps and he and a female passenger waited in the vehicle for about five minutes until the suspect showed up in a vehicle, got out, walked up to the victim’s vehicle and knocked on the driver’s window.
The victim rolled down his window and the two men shook hands.
“He sat in the car like he was waiting for the guy,” the witness said.
They talked for less than a minute when Moore pulled out a gun and started firing, the witness said.
“The next thing I hear is pop-pop-pop,” the witness said.
The female in the vehicle – who watched the shooting unfold before her eyes – was hysterical, as she ran around the parking lot and in and out of the store, the witness recalled.
Meanwhile, the suspect fled.
Moore lived on Crestwood, but also had an address on Wyoming Avenue, where police caught up with him Saturday, after a brief standoff, authorities said.
The girlfriend was the mother of two, but it was unclear Saturday if they were Moore’s children. The children were not home at the time of the shooting and are now with family, Richards said.
The case is being investigated by Homicide Squad Detectives Brian Ross, Anthony Borrelli, Mario Pratts and David Rambino.
email: lhammill@buffnews.com and jrey@buffnews.com