In July 2022, Officer Anthony Mazurkiewicz, a 29-year veteran of the Rochester Police Department, and his partner Sino Seng, were conducting a surveillance operation on Bauman Street when police say they were ambushed by gang members.

Officer Mazurkiewicz lost his life in the attack. Officer Seng continues to recover from the ordeal. 

The U.S. Attorney's Office says it has now confirmed that feuding gangs were responsible for not only this ambush, but also other shootings and arsons in the city.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, a feud between the nationally-known street gang the Bloods and a rival gang was a key factor in many of the violent incidents that plagued Rochester last summer. The ongoing turf war escalated tensions and resulted in a series of violent clashes, jeopardizing the safety of the community, authorities say.

"We haven't normally seen Bloods here in the city of Rochester," said Douglas Gregory, assistant U.S. attorney. "I've been doing this for 29 years and it's the first verified group of Bloods that we saw here in the city of Rochester."

In response to the escalating violence and murder of Officer Mazurkiewicz, law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Monroe County District Attorney's Office, decided to take decisive action against both gangs. An effort was made to bring the perpetrators to justice and restore peace to the city, they say.

Brandon Washington, the alleged leader of the gang that was under surveillance on the day of the ambush, was arraigned last week on charges related to narcotics and weapons offenses. Investigators say multiple other members of the gang were also arraigned recently, bringing the total number of defendants charged by federal authorities to 23. 

"An associate of Brandon Washington, Kelvin Vickers, who is now being prosecuted by the Monroe County District Attorney's Office, slithered down the street and opened fire into that van, killing Investigator Mazurkiewicz," said Gregory. "Obviously, this put a fine point on the violence that was occurring in the city of Rochester. And in part and parcel with the U.S. Attorney and the district attorney's office, we made a conscious decision to go after both of these groups."

Two men were identified as leaders of the rival gangs that have been allegedly committing crimes in Rochester.