Two women were killed when attendees of a Glorilla concert in Rochester, New York, ran for the exits after the show Sunday night, police said.
Police said Monday morning that a woman, 33-year-old Rondesia Belton, was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The second victim, identified only as a 35-year-old woman, died of her injuries later on Monday.
Police said Monday night that another 35-year-old woman remained in critical condition.
Police initially said that officers had responded to a report of shots fired at the Main Street Armory shortly after the 11 p.m. After moving towards the exit, it is believed that the bullet was fired.
Later Monday morning, however, the Rochester Police Department said that “there are some reports that shots were heard that caused the crowd to panic, but this has not been confirmed.”
Police said they are still investigating possible causes of the crowd surge, “including crowd size, firing, pepper spray, and more.”
Lauren Petracca / AP
Police said seven more people in private vehicles were brought to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
Alec Richardson of CBS Rochester affiliate WROC-TV tweeted that he “saw a firefighter performing CPR, possibly on a victim, at the scene.”
Major emergency response at the Main St. Armory after a concert. What witnesses told me was that at least three women were crushed to death as they left the concert venue. I also saw a firefighter performing CPR, possibly on a victim at the scene. More on News 8 at Sunrise. #Rock @News_8 pic.twitter.com/462O90ByOv
— Alec Richardson (@alecr66) March 6, 2023
About an hour after the incident, Grammy-nominated rapper Glorilla from Memphis, Tweeted that she had just heard what had happened and that she was “praying that everyone is okay.”
Upon learning of the second death, she tweeted that she was “devastated and heartbroken by the tragic deaths following Sunday’s show. My fans mean the world to me and wish them a speedy recovery for their families and all affected.” Praying.”
Mayor Malik Evans called the deadly stampede “completely unacceptable” and promised a thorough investigation into whether venue operators had the necessary security measures in place for large crowds.
“We’re going to hold people accountable for what happened last night,” Evans said, though he cautioned that it was too early in the investigation to assign blame. “I intend to get to the bottom of this.”
Lauren Petracca / AP
The armory hosted sporting events throughout the 20th century before being closed for several years starting in the late 1990s, partly because it lacked a fire suppression system at the time.
It was reopened after extensive renovations and began hosting concerts and other events in 2005. Smith said its main arena has a capacity of about 5,000 people, and the city’s fire marshal will work with police to determine whether that capacity was exceeded Sunday.
City officials said the facility underwent a physical fire safety inspection in December and was compliant with fire codes.
The venue’s next scheduled show, a Saturday performance by rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, has been cancelled.
“If you go to a concert, you don’t expect to get trampled,” Evans said. “Your loved ones expect you to be able to come home and talk about the experience you had at that great concert.”