Crowd crush leaves 2 dead, others injured at GloRilla concert in N.Y. – National
Two women, ages 33 and 35, were killed in a crowd crushing Sunday night concert of Memphis rapper GloRilla in Rochester, New York.
After reporting the death of a woman on Monday, police confirmed the death toll rose to two later in the evening.
Police believe the stampede stemmed from a false fear that there was a shooter at the venue, and concert-goers rushed to get out. A total of nine people were injured.
Rochester Police Lieutenant Nicholas Adams told ABC News that police responded to the stampede scene based on initial reports of gunshots. However, when police arrived at Rochester’s Main Street Armory, the injuries they observed did not match gunshot wounds.
“At this time, there is no evidence to support any shootings that occurred within the event.” Adams wrote in a statement“The injuries are believed to be the result of a large crowd pushing towards the exit following reports of people hearing what appeared to be gunshots.”
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Police believe the crash started shortly after 11pm after a concert featuring GloRilla and Finesse2tymes. Three women were found seriously injured, one of whom was identified by police as Rhondesia Belton, aged 33, but she later died in hospital.
Later Monday, police confirmed that a second woman, a 35-year-old, had also died from her injuries in hospital. Another her 35-year-old woman is still in critical condition.
Seven more people were taken to hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Smith said police are investigating several potential causes for the surge in fatalities, including “crowd size, gunfire, pepper spray and other factors.”
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Late Sunday night, GloRilla tweeted that he had just learned about the incident at his concert.
About an hour after police first arrived on the scene, GloRilla posted on Twitter, “I’m just hearing what happened.” “I hope everyone is safe.”
Twitter user who said she was at GloRilla’s Sunday night concert reacted to her tweet“I don’t know what happened. I was in the middle of that crowd and I didn’t hear any gunshots.”
She added that the crowd left the venue after GloRilla’s set.
Mayor Malik Evans called the fatality a “tragedy of epic proportions” and promised a thorough investigation. “We hold people accountable for what happened last night,” Evans said.
Memphis native GloRilla songs of the year 2022 FNF (Let’s Go) Hitkidd was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance and was one of many artists to perform at the recent Grammy Awards Hip-Hop 50th Anniversary Tribute. Latifah and Ran DMC
Deadly crowd surges are a recurring disaster at concerts and other large events in the United States and around the world. 2021 concert by rapper Travis Scott Ten of them died.
— with files from The Associated Press
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
