Two people were in critical condition after false fears of a shooting sent concertgoers rushing towards exits Sunday, said police in Rochester, New York.
A person injured in a stampede at a rap concert has died, bringing the death toll to 2 in the chaos in Rochester, New York, police said.
Earlier, 33-year-old Rhondesia Belton died after being injured in a crowd surge as concert-goers left a show headlined by Grammy-nominated artist GloRilla.
Audience members rushed for the Main Street Armory’s exits because of unfounded fears of gunfire, authorities said. Several people were injured, police said.
Police Chief David M. Smith said Monday there was no evidence any shots were fired, but police were investigating possible causes of the fatal surge.
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ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — Apparently false fears of a shooting at a rap concert in Rochester, New York, sent a crowd surging toward the exits, killing one person and injuring nine others, police said.
The injuries at Sunday night’s concert featuring rappers GloRilla and Finesse2tymes were caused by people being trampled, Police Chief David M. Smith said at a news briefing Monday. “We do not have any evidence of gunshots being fired or of anyone being shot or stabbed at the scene,” Smith said.
As the concert at Rochester’s Main Street Armory ended just after 11 p.m., people exiting the venue began to surge dangerously, Smith said. Police made their way inside and found three women with critical injuries, he said.
A 33-year-old woman died at a hospital, and the other women two were in critical condition Monday, police said said. Seven additional people were taken to hospitals and treated for injuries that were not life-threatening, Smith said.
“What began last night as a night of live music and fun for the performer GloRilla ended in tragedy with one person dead and two more fighting for their lives,” the chief said.
While there is no evidence of shots being fired, Smith said, police are investigating several possible causes of the fatal surge, including “possibly crowd size, shots fired, pepper spray and other contributing factors.”
Mayor Malik Evans called the fatal stampede “a tragedy of epic proportions” and promised a through investigation. “We are going to hold people accountable for what happened last night, period,” Evans said.
GloRilla, a Memphis native whose 2022 song “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” with Hitkidd was nominated for a Grammy for best rap performance, tweeted that she was “praying everybody is ok.”
Fatal crowd surges have been a recurring disaster at concerts and other large events in the U.S. and around the world, including a 2021 concert by rapper Travis Scott in which 10 people died.
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