The death toll rose to two on Monday following a stampede at a rap concert in Rochester, New York, that authorities said may have been triggered by unfounded fears of gunfire.
The Memphis rap stars GloRilla and Finesse2tymes had finished performing Sunday night at Rochester\u2019s Main Street Armory when something prompted people to surge dangerously toward the exits just after 11 p.m., Police Chief David M. Smith said at a news briefing Monday.
\u201cWe do not have any evidence of gunshots being fired or of anyone being shot or stabbed at the scene,\u201d Smith said.
Concertgoer Ikea Hayes returned to the venue Monday to retrieve belongings she left behind.
\u201cI was watching my life flash before my eyes, and I still didn\u2019t even know what was going on,\u201d she told Rochester television station WHEC. She described being \u201con the ground, just scared, praying, like, you got to get up, you got to move. If you stay here, they\u2019re going to keep running you over. So, you got to get up. You got to move.\u201d
Police found three badly injured women in the auditorium. One, Rhondesia Belton, of Buffalo, died at a hospital. Belton, 33, worked for Buffalo\u2019s Traffic Violations Agency, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown tweeted Monday evening.
\u201cHer family, friends, and colleagues are devastated and left to mourn this tragic loss,\u201d Brown said. \u201cPlease keep her family in your thoughts and prayers.\u201d
Rochester Police announced the death of a 35-year-old woman late Monday. Her name was not released. Another woman remained in critical condition, police said. Seven additional people were treated at area hospitals for injuries that were not life-threatening.
Security guard Anthony Rouse told WHEC he signed up to work when he learned his daughter was going to the concert. She was hurt in the rush to the exits and spent part of Monday in the hospital, he said.
\u201cThe whole reason I signed on was to protect her,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I failed.\u201d
Rouse said he was near the stage when his daughter went down near the entrance of the crowded hall.
\u201cWhat began last night as a night of live music and fun for the performer GloRilla ended in tragedy,\u201d said Smith, the police chief.
While there is no evidence of gunfire, Smith said, police are investigating several possible causes of the fatal surge, including \u201cpossibly crowd size, shots fired, pepper spray and other contributing factors.\u201d
Mayor Malik Evans called the fatal stampede \u201ctotally unacceptable\u201d and promised a thorough investigation into whether venue operators had the necessary safety measures in place for a large crowd.
\u201cWe are going to hold people accountable for what happened last night, period,\u201d Evans said, though he cautioned that it was too early in the investigation to assign blame. \u201cI intend to get to the bottom of this.\u201d
There was no response to emails requesting comment sent Monday to the Main Street Armory.
GloRilla, whose 2022 song \u201cF.N.F. (Let\u2019s Go)\u201d with Hitkidd was nominated for a Grammy for best rap performance, tweeted that she was \u201cpraying everybody is ok.\u201d
Fatal crowd surges have been a recurring disaster at concerts and other large events in the U.S. and around the world, including one at a 2021 concert by rapper Travis Scott in which 10 people died.
Built from 1905 to 1907 and initially used by the U.S. Army, the armory hosted sporting events throughout the 20th century before being shut down for several years starting in the late 1990s, partly because it lacked a fire suppression system at the time.
It reopened after extensive renovations and began hosting concerts and other events in 2005. Smith said its main arena is meant to have a capacity of about 5,000 people, and the city 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\u2019s next scheduled show, a Saturday performance by the rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, has been canceled.
\u201cIf you go to a concert, you do not expect to be trampled,\u201d Evans said. \u201cYour loved ones expect you to be able to come home and talk about the experience that you had at that great concert.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n