GloRilla has spoken out after her concert in Rochester, New York was reportedly marred by a crowd rush that left one person dead and two critically injured.
The “Tomorrow 2” hitmaker performed alongside fellow Memphis rapper Finesse2Tymes at Main Street Armory on Sunday night (March 5), shortly after wrapping up her Anyways, Life’s Great Tour.
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According to ABC News, reports of shots being fired inside the venue sparked panic, leading to a deadly stampede that injured nine people in total.
Rochester Police responded at 11:05 p.m. based on initial reports of gunshots inside the venue, which has a capacity of 5,000. Officers found multiple people injured.
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However, an investigation later revealed that none of the injuries were consistent with gunshot wounds and police have cast doubt on whether a shooting actually took place.
“At this time, there is no evidence to support a shooting having occurred inside the event,” Lt. Nicholas Adams said. “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, including a 33-year-old woman who died from her injuries. Two of the victims remain in critical, life-threatening condition.
A further six people were transported by private vehicle to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries.
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After the show, GloRilla took to Twitter to address the tragedy, expressing her shock and sadness while sending prayers to those who were in attendance.
“I’m just now hearing about what happened wtf [sad face emojis] praying everybody is ok [prayer hand emojis],” she tweeted.
Finesse2Tymes has yet to publicly address the incident.
The fatal crowd surge comes just two months after a Finesse2Tymes concert in Knoxville, Tennessee reportedly ended in gunfire.
The rapper was performing at the cannabis store My Canna Buds when a fight broke out and shots were fired, leaving three people with non-life-threatening injuries.
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A local boxer named Alonzo “Big Zo” Butler, who said he helped sell tickets to the show, claimed Finesse2Tymes’ entourage was behind the shooting and also robbed the store.
However, Finesse denied the allegations and accused the concert promoter of stiffing him out of his full performance fee.
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“Yall goofy MTFs betta quit lying on my name, aint nobody robbed no damn body,” he wrote on Snapchat. “This on my kids them folk tried to set me up so they wouldn’t have 2 pay a n-gga duh backend.”
Two men have been charged in connection with the shooting: Jackie Netterville, 22, and Gino Mickens, 20, who were both charged with reckless endangerment.
It also comes almost a year and a half after one of the deadliest crowd surges in recent memory: Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival in Houston in November 2021, which killed 10 people and injured hundreds more.
The high-profile tragedy has resulted in one of costliest and most complex lawsuits in live music history, with over 4,000 alleged victims suing Scott along with Live Nation and other festival organizers.
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The cases have been consolidated before a single Texas state judge as a “multidistrict litigation” and, combined, are seeking billions in damages over the disaster.
Billboard reported last November that the litigation process was still in the discovery and deposition stage, which “could still take well over another year.”
