NIAGARA FALLS
Police eye motives in fatal shooting
NIAGARA FALLS — Niagara Falls police said they are looking at robbery or “the drug angle” as possible motives in a fatal shooting of a Buffalo man early Saturday near Police Headquarters on Main Street.
Jacobi L. Lovett, 36, of Stanislaus Street was shot once in the upper left leg shortly after 1 a. m. and collapsed in the doorway of a Main Street convenience store, police said. He was taken to Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center and died a short time later from massive blood loss, police added.
Lovett told police he was robbed and shot by an unknown assailant as he sat in a green Jaguar owned by his girlfriend in the 900 block of Niagara Avenue. Police found $16 on the sidewalk as they followed the blood trail to where the victim collapsed a couple of blocks away.
Detective Capt. Ernest C. Palmer said a bullet believed to have been fired from a 9mm handgun pierced Lovett’sfemoral artery.
“Right now we don’t have a motive,” said Palmer, who is chief of detectives.
Police said the Jaguar was later found behind a home in the 1000 block of Cleveland Avenue and police recovered a shell casing from near the driver’s seat, Police, who are examining the vehicle for further clues, believe the shooter may have stolen the car after the attack.
Lovett was not known to Niagara Falls police, but may have been known to other police agencies, Palmer said.
According to police records, Lovett was shot in the shoulder during a neighborhood feud in Buffalo in 1990.
In 2007, according to Buffalo police, the victim was charged with drug possession, obstructing governmental administration and an outstanding warrant on burglary- related charges after he was pulled over in a traffic stop. The disposition of those cases could not be determined.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Detective Bureau at 286-4553 or the police information line at 286-4711.
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