Three dead after fears of gunshots prompt trampling at Rochester, NY, concert, police say

(ROCHESTER, N.Y.) — A third person has died in the days after a trampling at a concert over the weekend, police announced Thursday.

Nine people were trampled Sunday at the Rochester, New York, concert, leaving three dead and six others with injuries, according to the Rochester Police Department.

Lt. Nicholas Adams said officers responded at 11:05 p.m. based on initial reports of gunshots fired inside Rochester’s Main Street Armory during a concert.

Officers responding to the incident found multiple injured individuals; however, an investigation later found none of the injuries were consistent with gunshot wounds.

“At this time, there is no evidence to support a shooting having occurred inside the event,” Adams wrote in a statement. “The injuries appear to be as a result of a large crowd pushing towards the exits following accounts of individuals hearing what they believed to be gunshots.”

Three people were transported via ambulance to Strong Memorial Hospital after the incident, where a 33-year-old person, identified as Rhondesia Belton, died from her injuries, officials said.

A second person, identified as Brandy Miller, 35, died on Monday, according to the Rochester Police Department, and a third person, identified as Aisha Stephens, 35, died on Wednesday night, police announced Thursday.

An additional six people were transported by private vehicle to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.

Memphis rappers GloRilla and Finesse2tymes performed at Rochester’s Main Street Armory, which has a capacity of 5,000 attendees, on Sunday night.

At 12:11 a.m., GloRilla tweeted, “I’m just now hearing about what happened wtf 😢😢😢praying everybody is ok 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼.”

The incident follows a deadly 2021 crowd crush incident at Travis Scott’s Astroworld festival in Houston, Texas. Ten concertgoers died following the Nov. 5, 2021, incident and hundreds were injured, which led to multiple lawsuits against Scott.