ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Police Department has released the name of the second person who died after a panicked crowd tried to quickly exit the Main Street Armory following the GloRilla and Finnesse2tymes concert on Sunday. Eight other people were injured in the incident.
Investigators say eight officers were posted outside the venue for the event and they responded just after 11 p.m. for a report of shots fired. Inside, they say they found several people who had been injured after being trampled, but no evidence of gunfire.
Three women were taken to Strong Memorial Hospital. Two have since died. Police identified the first victim as Rhondesia Belton, 33, of Buffalo. The second victim has been identified as Brandy Miller, 35, of Rochester. Police say the third hospitalized victim is a 35-year-old woman from Syracuse and she remains in critical condition.
Police say seven additional people were dropped off at area hospitals by private vehicles with non-life-threatening injuries related to this same event.
After further investigation, police believe no shots were ever fired. They say the incident was the result of a crowd of people pushing their way toward the exits after hearing what they thought to be gunshots.
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown says Belton was hired by the city of Buffalo last year and worked in the city's Traffic Violations Agency. Brown released a statement on Monday:
Police Chief David Smith and Mayor Malik Evans addressed the incident during a news conference Monday morning.
Smith says multiple factors are being investigated in determining what led up to the stampede. He says the investigation will involve following up with Rochester Code Enforcement, the New York State Liquor Authority, the Rochester Fire Department and Rochester Corporation Counsel to ensure the venue was in compliance with all laws and procedures for the event.
The city of Rochester released this statement on Monday:
The State Liquor Authority released this statement:
The city says the Armory has a maximum occupancy of 5,000 people, but they have not said that limit was exceeded during this event.
"When you go to a concert, you do not expect to be trampled," said Evans. "Your loved ones expect you to come home and talk about the experience that you had at that great concert. What I saw last night in the aftermath of what happened at this concert breaks my heart and it's totally unacceptable. I want to be clear, we are nowhere near ... nowhere near ... completing this investigation."
The city of Rochester says the owner of the Main Street Armory, Scott Donaldson, confirmed that a concert scheduled for this coming Saturday at the venue has been canceled. The city says officials and the venue owner will meet later this week to discuss the future of the Armory as an entertainment venue.
Authorities are also speaking with concertgoers, security and others in attendance for their accounts of the incident. Anyone with pictures or videos of what unfolded is asked to send them to psi@cityofrochester.gov so they can be reviewed as part of the investigation.
GloRilla, whose 2022 song “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” with Hitkidd was nominated for a Grammy for best rap performance, tweeted that she was “praying everybody is ok.”
Fatal crowd surges have been a recurring disaster at concerts and other large events in the U.S. and around the world, including 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, Rochester’s 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.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.