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Man in custody

Police arrest suspect wanted for manslaughter

OBSERVER Photo by Andrew David Kuczkowski Erie County Sheriff Timothy Howard, middle, announced the arrest of Brandon White, 32, of Collins, for the murder of Anthony Chipman, 46, of Gowanda, on Thursday in downtown Buffalo. Alongside Howard are Chief of Patrol Scott Joslyn, left, and Captain of Detective Unit Greg Savage.

BUFFALO — Erie County Sheriff Timothy B. Howard announced that Brandon White, 32, of Collins, was arrested on first-degree manslaughter, a Class B felony, after allegedly shooting Anthony Chipman, 46, of Gowanda, in Collins at a press conference downtown on Thursday.

White has a background at Spring Wood Trailer Park, the location of the shooting. Last August, Howard stated that a possibly meth lab caused a fire which destroyed his then-trailer.

“Mr. White is no stranger to our patrols,” Howard said. “They have encountered him on numerous prior complaints. You may recall about a year ago the former residence of Mr. White — another trailer at that same trailer park — was destroyed by fire with some indication that it may have been caused by the processing of drugs at that location.”

The shooting occurred at 14725 Bagdad Road in Lot 6 at 7:38 p.m. on Wednesday. Deputy Farina and a New York State Trooper entered the residence and found the victim, Chipman, inside and unresponsive. He was announced dead at the scene.

The investigation unit found no drugs on site, but Howard added that it is “likely possible” to be a drug-related incident.

Unlike most shooting cases, an uncommon trigger delivered the fatal shot to Chipman.

“The firearm involved in this case is somewhat unusual. It is actually a pellet gun,” Howard said. “Certainly more (powerful) than a BB gun, but not at all the traditional firearm that’s involved in such an incident.”

The shot impacted Chipman’s upper chest, Captain of the Detective Unit Greg Savage said, and it caused enough internal bleeding to become a fatal wound.

Deputies also found a 49-year-old female on scene who was reportedly assaulted and was sent to Erie County Medical Center Wednesday.

“(She) was known to be the girlfriend of the suspect (White),” Howard said. “… She was physically assaulted to enough of a degree that she needed to be hospitalized. We won’t go into the discussion there is — we are not certain who caused those injuries yet. That remains under investigation.”

White is held at the Erie County Holding Center as his arraignment was scheduled for Thursday, though it was not announced what he plead.

Email: Akuczkowski@observertoday.com

Twitter: @Kuczkowski95

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