ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Rochester Mayor Malik Evans and Interim RPD Chief David Smith discussed recent gun violence in Rochester at City Hall on Sunday following a string of violent incidents this weekend.

Smith says that there have been four murders in the city in the past five days.

Since Tuesday, the Rochester Police Department has arrested 11 people for firearms-related offenses, Smith said.

Police are currently investigating after two people were fatally shot in the city early Sunday morning.

Officials responded to State Street for a report of a shooting just before 2 a.m. Sunday. Police say one man in his 20s was brought to Strong Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Three others were hospitalized, with one man in his 30s dying from his injuries.

Police say no suspects are in custody. Anyone with information is asked to call 911.

“Most of these violent crimes in the city of Rochester are acts of violence between people who have some sort of previous association with each other,” Smith said.

Smith said RPD research shows that in 2022, nearly 100% of shots fired in the city have occurred in just 11% of street segments.

“We know that in most of these tragedies, someone knew what was going on, and had they reached out, it is quite possible that an intervention could have taken place,” Smith said. 

“We are currently a city in mourning,” the city’s Violence Prevention Advisor Victor Saunders said. “The volatile issues of violence that we’ve had to deal with this week. [The shooting have] affected so many, [some] as young as 17 years old and as old as 50 years old. We have families that are truly traumatized this week. We are dealing with a segment of our community that is showing total disregard for public safety, a lack of empathy and spiritual bankruptcy.”

Saunders called for those seeking to handle disputes violently to turn in their guns and ask for assistance.

“Please stop shooting at occupied dwellings, homes with children and grandparents in them,” Saunders said.

“The community needs to come together and end these senseless acts of violence,” Smith said. “Most frequently, by the time the police department is involved, it is too late.”

“I’ve been in office 73 days,” Evans said. "In those 73 days, we’ve taken 124 guns off the street. We have a serious illegal gun problem in our community. We have to address it. Too many people have access to guns. Too many of our young people have access to guns.”

Evans says he will be meeting this week with federal, state and local partners, including the RPD, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Monroe County Sherriff’s Office, to discuss the flow of illegal guns coming into the city.

He also called on parents to be aware of what their kids are doing on social media and in real life. 

“Parents, if you see your child doing and posting things that provide a window to how they might behave, you have an obligaiton to intervene," he said. "If you think your child has a gun, you have obligation to intervene.”

“It seems like every [gun] we take off the street, another two come in,” Evans said.