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No apparent link between Wegmans and Amazon shootings, Gates police say

J’Mere Ridley-Smith of Rochester, 25, died in a shooting July 26 at a Wegmans distribution center in Gates, where he worked.
Provided by Gates Police Department
J’Mere Ridley-Smith of Rochester, 25, died in a shooting July 26 at a Wegmans distribution center in Gates, where he worked.

A 32-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a co-worker at a Wegmans distribution center in Gates on Saturday. 

Police said Monday that federal marshals took Kyshonn Green into custody in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Sunday night, more than 24 hours after he allegedly fled from the scene of the shooting. 

According to police, Green had a 9-millimeter handgun in his possession at the time of his arrest. 

Gates Police Chief Rob Long said the victim, 25-year-old J’Mere Ridley-Smith of Rochester, died from multiple gunshot wounds inside the warehouse on Brooks Avenue. 

"Unfortunately, our victim at the time was loading pallets or working doing his job,” Long said at a Monday morning news conference. 

Wegmans spokesperson Deana Percassi thanked the Gates Police Department and other law enforcement agencies for swiftly apprehending a suspect in the shooting, and said, “J’Mere’s passing leaves a void in our hearts.” 

Green is facing extradition to Gates, where he will face charges. 

Long said there is no apparent link to another fatal shooting that occurred two days earlier, on the evening of July 24, at an Amazon warehouse on Manitou Road. 

In that incident, a 24-year-old Amazon employee was shot to death while sitting in his car in the facility's parking lot. 

"This is tragic that we had two major incidents within two days of each other. Very unheard of in our town,” Long said, adding that police are pursuing a separate suspect in that shooting.

Beth Adams joined WXXI as host of Morning Edition in 2012 after a more than two-decade radio career. She was the longtime host of the WHAM Morning News in Rochester. Her career also took her from radio stations in Elmira, New York, to Miami, Florida.