Raymond Floyd Patterson III was 14 when he was fatally shot on a footbridge near Oakmont Avenue in Buffalo on August 12, 2014. The shooting followed a fight between two teenage girls; Patterson and three other teenagers who were injured were not believed to have been part of that initial altercation. Patterson, a student at Buffalo Elementary School of Technology #6, was struck in the back, arm, and leg while trying to flee the scene.

The Buffalo Police Department opened an intensive investigation and received substantial help from the community. Detectives initially sought a man in his 20s, but on August 14, 2014, police arrested 28-year-old Joseph Gant and charged him with second-degree murder and three counts of first-degree assault. Gant pleaded not guilty at his arraignment and was held without bail; the case moved forward through the courts.

Does anyone have information about Raymond’s life, the Oakmont Avenue footbridge area in 2014, or witnessed that night’s events?