Rochester Main Street Armory shut down indefinitely after deadly stampede at GloRilla concert. The latest
The Main Street Armory, where a crowd surge at a Sunday-night GloRilla concert killed two women and critically injured a third, is shut down indefinitely.
The city of Rochester is not renewing the venue’s entertainment license, Police Chief David Smith announced at a news conference late Wednesday afternoon.
He said the city had invited armory owner Scott Donaldson to a meeting Wednesday about voluntarily ceasing to host events but that, through an attorney, he declined to attend.
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Smith then signed an order denying the armory’s entertainment license renewal, which has been posted at the facility at 900 E. Main St.
“What this means is that the Main Street Armory can no longer host any public entertainment pending a complete and thorough review of this matter,” Smith said.
He said he wasn’t going to speculate how long the investigation might take but that it will be multifaceted, involving a number of city agencies.
“Lives were lost,” he said. “We need to take steps to make sure no lives are lost in the future, if indeed this was something that was preventable.”
What happened? Two women killed in stampede at GloRilla concert in Rochester
He said police have taken statements from several witnesses but that anyone with information is asked to call 911 or email psi@cityofrochester.gov.
Rhondesia Belton, 33, of Buffalo and Brandy Miller, 35, of Rochester died Monday after being trampled. The third victim, identified only as a 35-year-old woman from Syracuse, remains at Strong Memorial Hospital, where she is fighting for her life, Smith said.
Seven other people were treated at area hospitals for injuries that were not life-threatening.
Previously, Smith said the injuries appear to be the result of a crowd pushing toward the exits after they thought they heard gunfire.
While there is no evidence of that, police are investigating several possible causes of the fatal surge, including “possibly crowd size, shots fired, pepper spray and other contributing factors.”
The incident happened just after 11 p.m. as people were exiting the armory following a concert, which featured Memphis-based rappers GloRilla and Finesse2tymes.
During a Monday press conference, Rochester Mayor Malik Evans called the fatal stampede “totally unacceptable" and promised a thorough investigation into whether the venue’s operators had the necessary safety measures in place for a large crowd.
“We are going to hold people accountable for what happened last night, period,” Evans said, although he cautioned it was too early in the investigation to assign blame. “I intend to get to the bottom of this.”
GloRilla, whose 2022 single“F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” with Hitkidd was nominated for a Grammy for best rap performance, tweeted that she is “devastated and heartbroken” that women died after her show. She said she is “praying for their families and for a speedy recovery of everyone affected.”
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester Main St. Armory shut down after deadly stampede at concert
