Man arrested for shooting 17-year-old is also suspect in murder at Burger King

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — “Senseless and not normal” is what Mayor Malik Evans called the shooting of three teenagers, leaving one dead, on Thursday evening.

He and Rochester Police Chief David Smith spoke at a Friday news conference about the shootings at three separate scenes in the city. A man arrested in one of those shootings is also charged with killing a teen inside the Burger King restaurant on Lyell Avenue on Jan. 14.

Smith said the first shooting happened on St. James Street around 1:30 p.m. The 17-year-old victim was taken to Strong Hospital to treat a life-threatening gunshot wound.

Shortly after, officers arrested a suspect in the shooting, 19-year-old Dashaun Tubbs. He was charged in that shooting and in the deadly shooting of Sideic Robinson, a Burger King employee, as he was leaving work.

RPD said that Tubbs and Burger King employees knew each other and the shooting was the result of a dispute that turned violent. According to RPD, Tubbs was already a suspect in the Burger King shooting but wasn’t arrested until now. They also say Tubbs had a handgun on him when he was arrested on Lyell Avenue.

The second shooting on Thursday happened on Alphonse Street. Police responded at 2:30 p.m. and found a 15-year-old boy dead from an upper body gunshot wound in a house. Police identified the victim as Suade McKnight, a city resident who didn’t live in the house where he was killed.

Ten minutes later, officers responded to another teenage boy who was shot, this time in the area of Remington and Lang streets. A private car took the teen to Strong Hospital for life-saving surgery. Smith reported that the teen is in critical but stable condition.

Officers say that, while officers were investigating the shooting on Remington Street, they spotted a 20-year-old man with a gun. After a foot chase, officers arrested the man for having a ghost gun, an illegal, self-assembled weapon.

Police say they are investigating whether these three incidents are connected. Tubbs was arraigned on Friday and is charged with murder, assault, and criminal possession of a weapon. RPD said that he was on probation for an illegal weapon conviction at the time of Thursday’s murder and the Burger King murder.

At the conference, Mayor Evans said that parents and the community need to step up to prevent young people from falling victim to gun violence. He gave parents these tips to protect their children:

• Check your child’s social media. Many feuds that turn violent start on social media.
• Know the full names of your children’s friends, instead of first names or nicknames, so you know who your children are hanging out with.
• Check school records see if your children are skipping classes and possibly getting themselves in a dangerous situation.
• Install a tracking app to your child’s phone.
• Be aware if your children are out at night.

If you have information about the recent shootings, you can send an anonymous tip to 911 or can call Rochester City Hall at 585-428-5990. You can see the full news conference here: