Rochester police say two people are dead and five others are recovering after a mass shooting in Maplewood Park.
According to investigators, officers were responding to reports of shots fired around 6:20 p.m. Sunday on Bridge View Drive. When police arrived, they say they found multiple people with gunshot wounds at a large gathering.
The RPD says despite the efforts of people in the park and first responders, Tyasia Manning, 25, died from her injuries. Several hours later, police say Phylicia Council, 34, also died from her injuries. The five other victims are reported to have non-life-threatening injuries.
During a news conference on Monday, Mayor Malik Evans said Manning was a city employee and flags will be flown at half staff on city facilities in her honor.
"Everyone talked about how great she was and said, 'I want you to meet this one,'" Department of Recreation and Human Services commissioner Shirley Green said of Manning. "She is a great worker. The kids loved her and she loved them."
Evans says the individuals responsible for incidents like this are "unmitigated cowards."
"In this community, we cannot stand for people who are interested in destruction and devastation," said Mayor Evans. "Destruction, devastation and death — that's what those folks are interested in, period. Because they want to come to events that are nice and people are having a good time and they come and just want to tear it up. And is that what we want in our community? I know that it's not and we need to remove those members from our society."
Authorities say hundreds of people were in the park for a barbecue. They are still working to determine what led up to the incident as well as how many people fired shots.
"When we're dealing with a big field like that, we're looking for ballistic evidence first," said Lt. Greg Bello, public information officer for the Rochester Police Department. "We're looking for casings things along those lines that can help us to identify. In a big field like that, it's going to take us a while to work our way through finding any sort of what's evidence of this shooting versus what's there from a party occurring."
"Weekends like this put a strain on our community, on our families and our first responders," RPD Chief David Smith said. "It puts a strain on all of Rochester."
Police say they are also aware of videos of the incident circulating on social media.
"No piece of information is too small for us to be able to work to solve these crimes," Evans said.
Police released photos on July 31 of a person of interest who was at the scene and are asking for the public's help in identifying them.
The RPD released more photos on Aug. 5 of two more people who were at the scene of the shooting and is asking the public to help identify them.
They're encouraging anyone with information to contact the Rochester Police Department, the Major Crimes Unit at 585-428-7157 or email them at majorcrimes@cityofrochester.gov.