This was different.
Yes, there have been crimes, violent crimes, at some other gatherings in city parks. The June shooting at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park left six wounded. But that was in the morning's early hours, shortly before 3 a.m.
Sunday's mass shooting in Rochester erupted around 6:20 p.m. Many dozens, possibly between 100 and 200 people by some estimates, had spent the hours before barbecuing, chatting, playing games. There were children, infants, grandparents.
Now two are dead — 25-year-old Tyasia Manning and 34-year-old Phylicia Council — and five others injured. They are expected to survive their wounds. The police are searching for the killers and say many people have already provided information.
At a news conference Monday, Mayor Malik Evans said he'd been to similar events over the weekend, cookouts where people gathered for fellowship and friendship.
"Our people, our residents should be able to enjoy summer in a park, period," he said. The killers, Evans said, are "cowards" and he said he's taken aback by the growing number of female victims with violence.
After a stretch of violent crime that shattered previous records for bloodshed and homicides, the City of Rochester, like much of the rest of the country, is now seeing declines in crime rates and returns to pre-pandemic levels. The mass shooting on Sunday seemed to shatter what residents and officials hoped was a trajectory toward less violence and more peace.
"We had in Rochester a weekend full of violence," said Police Chief David Smith. Arson and firefighting investigators are also investigating a fire on Portland Avenue that has left a 5-year-old boy fighting for his life. Two firefighters were also injured.
Said Evans, "A decrease in crime is not enough, especially when we're burying our young people."
What happened at Maplewood Park in Rochester NY?
The barbecue at Maplewood Park, a site known for the splendor of its rose garden and its views of the north-flowing Genesee River, was advertised by flyers as a chance for a community get-together. Organizers did not seek permits from the city, but there were no signs of tension or strife in the hours before the shooting, Smith said.
Instead, there'd been calls about some cars parked on grassy areas, but peace, enjoyment and civility appeared to be the norm throughout the early hours of the event, which started around 1 p.m.
There'd been no indications of problems "until what happened happened," Smith said.
Online social media videos show the chaos that overwhelmed the crowds when gunfire burst out. Some at first thought firecrackers, but it became apparent, as the crowd scrambled for safety, that the outbursts were far worse.
Some individuals tried to help those struck by gunfire. Multiple police agencies — Rochester, Irondequoit and New York State Police — rushed to the growing mayhem.
Police Monday provided little information about whether they have any information about what sparked the gunfire. With so many people present, it's a certainty some know who the shooters were, Smith said.
"There are hundreds of people who have potential information to help us solve this crime," he said.
Already, residents are providing videos and tips, he said.
Anyone with information can call the city police major crimes unit at (585) 428-7157 or email at majorcrimes@cityofrochester.gov.
Flags at half mast
Rochester city offices lowered the flags to half-mast because of the homicide of Manning, who worked with children and teens at a summer city recreation program at the Carter Street R-Center.
On Monday, the city brought in support staff for workers and for children who knew Manning, described as effervescent and outgoing by some of those who knew her.
"Many of the kids called her 'Mama Bear,' " said Shirley J.A. Green, the city's commissioner of parks, recreation and human services.
Turbo Lewis, a friend of both women, said Council and Manning were spirited and fun-loving people.
“They were just beautiful females who didn’t deserve no type of pain or no type of hurt,” he said. “Anything we do that’s positive can be ruined by violence.”
Evans Monday said that those who were wounded will have their own traumas. "It's important to say that these are life-altering injuries," he said.
Major crimes investigators with the city police have worked around the clock since the shooting, Evans said.
Evans also implored residents to help the search for the killers. "The next 12 to 24 hours is absolutely critical," he said.
"No piece of evidence is too small for us to be able to work to solve these crimes," he said.
(Staff reporter Justin Murphy contributed to this story.)
