Reginald Barnes, a 28-year-old Black man from Buffalo, New York, was killed on September 24, 2015, in a burst of gunfire that turned an ordinary school-day afternoon into chaos along Woodlawn Avenue. The shooting unfolded near the Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts, close to the intersection of Woodlawn Avenue and Masten Avenue, with reports placing it near Woodlawn and Michigan as well.
Police said Barnes was shot while inside a vehicle traveling on Woodlawn.
After the shots, the vehicle continued on for a short distance—only a few hundred feet—before it came to rest outside the school, leaving a violent scene uncomfortably close to students and staff. Investigators did not say whether Barnes had been driving, or whether anyone else had been inside with him when the gunfire erupted, and those unanswered questions hung in the air as detectives began working the case.
Inside the school, the response was immediate and protective. The building was placed on lockdown, and students were moved away from the side facing the street as officers secured the area. A senior police official emphasized that the children were never believed to be in danger, describing how the shooting occurred at the corner and the vehicle then traveled down the street before stopping outside the school. Outside, streets were blocked off in an effort to shield students from what had happened, and the process of getting them safely onto buses began under the watch of police and school staff.
As parents converged on the area, community members arrived too—Buffalo Peacemakers were reported on scene, helping steady the moment and reinforce the sense of order while families waited for word and students were released. In the earliest public accounts, authorities described the incident as a homicide investigation but did not publicly name any suspect or announce any arrest connected to Barnes’ killing.
