Officers in fatal shooting, crash named

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Two officers involved in a routine traffic stop in Buffalo that took a violent and deadly turn were hailed as heroes after a fatal fire three years ago.

Buffalo Police Officers Kenneth Agee and Jared Domaracki have been on the force for over four years. Three years ago they were honored for helping to rescue six people from a burning home on East Delavan. Now Internal Affairs is investigating just what happened Thursday night when Agee fired a shot that killed Issac Parker and sent his car careening into a pole that killed Ida Murphy.

RELATED | Murphy's estate is already planning to sue the City of Buffalo over the shooting, crash

It started as what police call a routine traffic stop five blocks away at Jefferson and Best. When officers suspected the driver of the Buick Rendezvous may have been drinking, Officer Domaracki apparently reached in from the driver's side to try to turn the car's ignition off, and then Officer Agee reached in from the passenger side to try to assist. When officers suspected Parker was attempting to hit the accelerator, Officer Agee shot him.

The officers bailed out of the car and radioed for help as the SUV drove five more blocks before crashing at Fillmore and Riley.

Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda said, "It appears that there was no chase. He took off at a high rate of speed. By the time the officers even got back in the car, we have witnesses saying that they saw the car flying at a high rate of speed and did not see a police care behind it."

Demetrius Moore saw the surveillance video of the crash from the deli at that corner. He assumed there was a police pursuit judging from how fast an officer was at the crash scene.

"The vehicle, the Rendezvous coming on this side of the street with its headlights, hitting the poles and ending up over here on this side of the street. Upon the vehicle coming to a stop, I observed a Buffalo Police officer on the video jump out of the video with his weapon drawn and told the pedestrians to get away from the scene," Moore said.

The investigation continues. It has not been determined yet whether Officer Agee was justified to use deadly force.

Both officers are specifically assigned to Buffalo's Municipal Housing Authority. Police officials tells News 4 it is not too unusual for officers assigned to housing units to stop drivers and make arrests off the property.

But Buffalo Municipal Housing Commissioner Joseph Mascia questions, "Why are they doing a routine traffic stop? We do have an investigator that we need to do our own internal investigation to make sure proper procedure was followed. Why were they doing a routine traffic stop? Did they come from a housing unit? Were they on their way to a housing unit? We expect the police to do their job, but we also expect the police to do the job that they're hired to do for the housing authority."

The housing authority pays $650,000 a year for 18 officers, including Agee and Domaracki, to patrol the housing units. In three weeks, the authority's three-year police contract with the city expires, and Mascia says he plans to take a fresh look at what these officers assigned to housing units should and should not be focusing on.