Buffalo Man Shot By Police Found Mentally Unfit To Stand Trial

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A Buffalo man who was arrested and charged with using a baseball bat to assault a Buffalo Police officer last September is not going to stand trial at this time.

According to reporting by WKBW-TV, 61-year-old William Henley from Buffalo was found to be mentally unfit to stand trial. Two separate mental health examiners have determined that his mental state shows he's not able to be tried at this time.

Henley, who was shot by police officers because of this incident, survived his injuries and had been held by authorities pending his trial. This ruling by officials will delay things for at least the next 3 months as Henley is being transferred to a Rochester, NY mental health facility for treatment.

Family and friends of Henley have said his mental health struggles were well known within the community and they are not surprised by this result. Given his known mental health issues, some members of the community feel that officers should have used non-lethal force, like a taser, when trying to take him into custody.

The shooting of Henly by police officers is one of the events that has lead to some of the policy reforms that we are now seeing enacted by City of Buffalo officials. In the last year, we have seen a move towards ensuring social workers are available to assist on mental health calls, police deploying non-lethal options likes the bola wrap and tasers, the use of chokeholds being banned, and de-escalation training.