ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Police said Efrain Orta Jr. is dead after he was shot several times on Otis Street in Rochester, about 30 yards away from School No. 54.
The call for the shooting came in around 9 a.m. Friday. A police officer who was directing traffic in the area heard five to six gunshots. A man on a motorcycle in front of a house fell to the ground.
Police said Orta Jr., 38, was shot several times in the upper body. The shooter then left, but officers won't say how.
The incident took place outside of the school at the busiest time of the day. School had just began and kids were still on buses.
"The fact that a police officer was standing a block and a half away directing traffic, audacity is the correct word. There's a lot of leads we're tracking down right now, very confident that we'll be able to come to a conclusion with this," said Scott Peters, RPD deputy chief.
School employees say Orta's two children attended the school.
The school was in lockout mode for 45 minutes Friday morning. Police have since secured the area but some kids were held on the buses before they could enter back into the school.
Jennie Swails and other neighbors just shook their heads.
"We know that all have to leave this earth one day but being sick and dying, that's different than someone taking your life, you know? No one has the right to take anyone's life, you know?" she said.
"Yeah, I mean that''s just insane. No one should have that mentality. Let me pull a gun out around a bunch of kids and at a school," said neighbor Steve Elmer. "That's just ridiculous."
Friday's killing follows the shooting of another man just a few houses away early Thursday morning.
Rochester police say they found the 34-year-old victim on the sidewalk around 1 a.m. at 223 Sherman Street. That's directly around the corner from Friday's homicide scene.
The victim was taken to Strong Hospital with what police called life-threatening injuries. No word on if the two incidents are related in any way.