Samuel L. Smalls was 22 when he was shot and killed on a cold December evening in Buffalo, New York. He was standing with two companions near the intersection of Shirley Avenue and Suffolk Street shortly before 9 p.m. when a lone gunman approached and began shooting. Smalls was critically wounded, taken to Erie County Medical Center, and died soon after arrival. The two men who were with him were not injured.

Buffalo Police detectives opened a homicide investigation and asked the public for help identifying the shooter, but no arrests or suspects have been reported. The motive for the attack and the identity of the gunman remain unknown. If anyone was near Shirley Avenue and Suffolk Street that night or has information about Samuel Smalls and the people he was with, please share what you know.