Rochester Mayor Malik Evans and city police officials are again imploring the public to provide tips about another shooting.
This one happened Monday night on William Warfield Drive, as people were gathered to release balloons to celebrate the life of a teenage homicide victim after an incident that happened last June.
Police said someone fired into the crowd, and a 12-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl suffered gunshot wounds as did a 20-year-old man. All of them are expected to survive.
Even though the mayor often appears at news conferences when there is a homicide, Evans said that it was important to bring attention to this type of shooting as well.
“You may ask why talk about this? I want to talk about this because we want to dramatize, let people know that we cannot normalize this, this is not normal. This should not be regular and it should not be tolerated,” Evans said.
But the mayor said that he is encouraged by the fact that along with the increase in the number of violent incidents, police and City Hall have been getting more tips from the public.
“The last time I stood here, we asked for people to reach out and give tips, and the community did that," Evans said. "I think that the community has had absolutely enough of this. I think that people in the community are continuing to come forward and I hope that they will do so in this case.”
Evans feels that someone has video or other information about this week’s shooting that could help lead to an arrest.
There is no word of any suspects yet in connection with Monday night’s shooting.
The mayor also urged any groups of people who are holding similar gatherings to remember a homicide victim to contact City Hall or the police so that officials can provide a presence at those events to deter violence.
