In the early morning hours of September 12, 2015, in Buffalo, New York, 28-year-old Nicholas Jozens of Williamsville was fatally shot. The incident occurred around 4:30 a.m. near the intersection of Clinton Street and Weaver Street. Jozens was struck by a single bullet to the abdomen and was transported to Erie County Medical Center, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
The male victim's life was cut short in an act of violence that would soon lead to a tense police standoff.
The investigation quickly pointed to 44-year-old Victor Irizarry of Buffalo as the suspect. Later that same day, at approximately 11:30 a.m., Buffalo Police responded to a report of a man with a gun barricaded inside a building on the 1900 block of Clinton Street, in the same vicinity as the shooting. The situation escalated, prompting the deployment of the SWAT team and the department's Crisis Management team, who cordoned off the block. As the standoff unfolded, police learned that Irizarry was concealed in a garage on the nearby Barnard Street.
After surrounding the garage, law enforcement officials were able to take Victor Irizarry into custody at about 1:30 p.m. Initially, he was charged with second-degree murder. In July of the following year, Irizarry pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of Manslaughter in the First Degree. Following his plea, State Supreme Court Justice Christopher J. Burns sentenced Victor Irizarry to 23 years in prison, which will be followed by five years of post-release supervision for his role in the death of Nicholas Jozens.
