ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Rochester Police Department Captain Frank Umbrino has revealed more details surrounding the mass shooting that left 16 people shot, including two dead, at a house party on Pennsylvania Avenue early Saturday morning.

Umbrino outlined the work that's been done to investigate the attack so far, and the long road ahead.

Police believe that what began as an invite-only party Friday night eventually grew in size after two nearby parties began to converge onto the one on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Police say that an argument then ensued, and that three to four individuals took out handguns and began firing.

"There was excess of 40 rounds fired by at least three-to-four suspects and by some witness accounts. We believe the gun fight last for over a minute."

Police say they need more answers.

At approximately 12:30 a.m., 911 received multiple calls of shots fired. Officials say shots were fired in the front and back of the house and up the street.

“What’s extremely important in this case, as well as in all cases, is that we need the community to come forward and help us with this investigation. Like I said, there were 100 to 200 people that were witnesses or have knowledge of the incident. We’ve spoken to many of those people. The cooperation thus far has been commendable, but in order to bring this to a successful resolution where we can hold the people accountable responsible, we need people to come forward," said Umbrino.

Umbrino said that Jarvis Alexander and Jaquayla Young, the two victims who died in the incident, were not the intended targets.

"It's a tragedy, unfortunately, it's another innocent person that's gunned down for absolutely no good reason whatsoever, it's heart-wrenching when you have innocent people getting killed. I just hope, a month from now, everybody remembers their names," said Umbrino.

In total, 16 people were shot, with five treated at Rochester General Hospital, nine at URMC, and two dead at the scene.

Of the 14 non-fatal injuries, all of whom are between 17 to 23 year old, all are expected to recover. Two people suffered trampling injuries.

Police say one handgun has been recovered, but is in unclear if that gun was used in the incident.

Umbrino spoke at length during the press conference about the conditions that lead up to the shooting, and how the scourge of violence in the city does not have an easy answer, no matter what some people may say.

"If I hear one more politician talk about what we need to do to stop the violence, we need more gun laws. We need this. We need that, quite frankly, I'm going to vomit. These people that say have no idea what they are talking about. We have a lot of gun laws in the books that we don't enforce," he said.

Umbrino said he spoke with people who lived in the neighborhoods where the recent shootings have occurred who told him they don't believe what the politicians are saying, and that there needs to be more accountability for when people break laws.

Rochester police say there is a still long way to go way for this investigation with dozens of people to interviews, much video to review, and a lot of forensic evidence to analyze.

There are no suspects in custody. 

 

This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.