UPDATE: Family says two victims in murder/suicide on Costar Street were sisters

UPDATE: The two victims in the shooting on Costar Street in Novem were sisters, says the victims’ family on Thursday.

One of the sisters, 27-year-old died Angely Solis, died. The Rochester Police Department said a Greece Police Officer shot her before the officer took her own life.

RPD said the other victim, who survived, was also shot by the Greece Police Officer. Her family says she has been released from the hospital. We are still waiting to learn more about the possible motive of the shooting.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Rochester Police say that 29-year-old Tiffani Gatson, a Greece Police Department officer, shot two women – one fatally – and then took her own life.

RPD identified the woman who died as Angely Solis, 27. The surviving victim, who is in her 30s, remains in the hospital. Authorities say the women are relatives and lived in the home together. Their connection with Gatson is still being investigated.

News10NBC did a profile on Gatson in 2019, when she became the first African American woman to join the Greece Police Department. She was a Rochester native, graduating from Wilson Magnet High School and the Rochester Institute of Technology.

The shooting happened on Monday night at a house on Costar Street near Saratoga Avenue. RPD officers first responded around 7:20 p.m. RPD said Gatson’s gun that she used, which they found on the scene, wasn’t her service weapon.

According to RPD, Gatson shot herself and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at URMC. Solis was pronounced dead at the scene and the other victim is in the hospital after being shot multiple times in the upper body. She is expected to survive.

The New York State Attorney General’s Office was later called to the scene for an investigation. The Attorney General’s Office is required to investigate anytime an on-duty or off-duty law enforcement officer within the state is suspected of killing someone.

Greece Police said Gatson was off duty during the shooting. She had been with the department since September 2018. Here is the statement from Greece Police Chief Michael Wood:

“Unfortunately, we have seen events of this nature occur all too frequently and struggle to find
answers in the aftermath. The effects are far-reaching, from those who have lost loved ones to
others throughout law enforcement organizations when a police officer commits such a horrible
act, to our entire community. It is simply devastating, and so many people are hurting right now.
Allowing people to grieve is of paramount importance to me and providing the appropriate level
of support within our organization. In closing, I would like to extend our most sincere and heartfelt sympathies to the families of everyone involved last night and all others impacted by this unspeakable tragedy.”

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