BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The New York Attorney General's Office of Special Investigation (OSI) has announced that no charges will be filed after Orchard Park police shot and killed a man in August 2024.
According to the AG, on August 30, 2024, James Cushman called 911 to report a disturbance at his house involving a gun and informed 911 that he was armed with a knife to defend himself. The AG said that when the first Orchard Park police officer responded, Cushman charged at him with a knife and the officer pulled out his service weapon and retreated toward the rear of his patrol car. The AG said the officer repeatedly instructed Cushman to drop the knife and he abruptly stopped, walked back toward his house, and said, “Why didn’t you do it?” and “You could have done it," then put down the knife on top of his mailbox.
The AG said a second officer arrived and Cushman grabbed the knife off the top of the mailbox and charged at both officers. The officers retreated behind their patrol cars and repeatedly directed him to drop the knife. He stopped abruptly again and walked back towards his home.
Then, according to the AG, as a third patrol car turned on to the street, Cushman charged at officers a third time and one officer repeatedly yelled, “Drop the knife!” but Cushman continued to run toward the officers and did not appear to slow down. The AG said two officers discharged their service weapons, striking Cushman and he was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
In a release, the AG said in part:
"Under New York’s justification law, a police officer may use deadly physical force when the officer reasonably believes it to be necessary to defend against the use of deadly physical force by another. In this case, Mr. Cushman was armed with a knife and charged at officers multiple times while ignoring repeated commands to drop the knife. Under these circumstances, given the law and the evidence, a prosecutor would not be able to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that the officers’ use of deadly physical force against Mr. Cushman was justified, and therefore OSI determined that criminal charges would not be pursued in this matter."
