Rochester Police Chief Smith and Mayor Evans address overnight gun violence

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – One person is dead, another fighting for their life, and three others were wounded in two shootings on North Clinton Avenue, all within minutes of each other.

Police say a fight broke out in front of the Valero around 1 am.

A block away, near Siebert Place, multiple gunshots went off, sending people running. As police made their way through the crowd, they found a 19-year-old man shot in the head in front of a store.

They also found a 22-year-old woman shot in her torso. Both were taken to Strong Memorial Hospital. They are expected to recover.

Two minutes later, more gunfire. This time near Scrantom Street. Police say a 22-year-old man was shot in the head. He died at the hospital.

They also found aa 23-year-old man and a 13-year-old girl with gunshot wounds. Their injuries are not considered to be life threatening.

Two hours later, a woman was stabbed near North Clinton Avenue and Oakman Street. She’s expected to be okay.

Police chief David Smith and Mayor Malik Evans railed against the violence during a press conference Saturday morning.

As you know we have the Puerto Rican Festival is going on tonight at Innovative Field. We had already planned for the parade and those events to go on, so we may have to adapt some of our plans. But, the bottom line is we have ordered officers in, we will have hundreds of officers working tonight,” Smith said.

“We will adjust our posture down on North Clinton Avenue as necessary, using every tool that we can. But we need help from the community, leave your gun at home or get rid of your gun,” Evans said.

Chief Smith said people will see more officers around the North Clinton Avenue area tonight, as well as road closures and checkpoints. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and State Police are sending in officers to help too.