Woman shot by police, grandson stabbed

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - A 4-year-old boy and his grandmother are dead after a violent incident in Riverside in Buffalo late Wednesday afternoon.

Two officers on patrol were flagged down and brought to a 4-year-old boy bleeding on a porch at a home on Esser Avenue near Oregon Place. The child has been stabbed in the stomach and the chest by his grandmother, police say.

Chief of Detectives Dennis Richards said, "The officers were charged by a woman running out of the house who was armed with two large knives, and the woman was subsequently shot by one of the officers."

Ronny Chase, who was witnessed the chaotic scene, said, "And I heard the police going, 'Get on the ground. Get on the ground.' Then it was, 'Pop pop.' Then I was out."

When officers tried to provide first aid, they say the boy's 38-year-old grandmother, Charleen McNally Fears, rushed from the house clutching two large knives. A witness tells News 4 they heard police shouting, "Put the knife down! Put the knife down!" An officer then opened fire, killing Fears.

"You could see them like working on him, but you couldn't see the child. You could see they were like bent over, taking care of the baby, the child," said Amy Trzaska.

The child was rushed to Women and Children's Hospital, but later died at the hospital.

A relative told News 4 that he was told there were three children in the house when the child was stabbed. Two, he said were children of Charleen and Darrell Fears. The third was her 4-year-old grandson.

The case is being investigated by the homicide squad and Internal Affairs, which as a matter of protocol investigates any time an officer is involved in a shooting. The officer who shot Charleen Fears has not been named.