New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Two concert-goers are now dead following a
GloRilla show in Rochester, New York where a crowd stampede broke out. The
Memphis rapper has now expressed that she is "devastated and heartbroken" over the tragedy that took place Sunday night (March 5).
The crowd surge happened just as the show was ending around 11 p.m. at the Main Street Armory in Rochester, New York, where
GloRilla was performing on Sunday. Concertgoers thought they heard gunshots and rushed towards the exit, according to the Rochester
Police Department.
"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," Rochester police Lt. Nicholas Adams told CNN.
Two women-Brandy Miller, 35, and Rhondesia Belton, 33-were killed in the stampede. Another woman suffered life-threatening injuries and remained in critical condition as of Monday, while seven additional people were injured.
Tamira De Jesus, who attended Sunday's show, recalled the harrowing incident. "I was literally being suffocated while trying to help people on the ground stand up. I was terrified and all I could think is that they gotta let the crowd out into the street because they was not going to stop," she told Rolling Stone.
"I Iiterally screamed to tell people to stop pushing and to help the people on the ground stand up. I heard a man literally say, 'F**k them, Step on them.' It was the most inhumane thing I have seen in my whole life and I am still having anxiety."
In the wake of the tragedy, a "heartbroken"
GloRilla took to Twitter to mourn the losses.
"I am devastated & heartbroken over the tragic deaths that happened after Sunday's show," she tweeted on Monday evening. "My fans mean the world to me 😢praying for their families & for a speedy recovery of everyone affected."
In an earlier tweet,
GloRilla said she was unaware of what had occurred at her show. TMZ reports that she had left the venue at the time of the stampede.
"I'm just now hearing about what happened wtf," she tweeted. "praying everybody is ok."
Finesse2Tymes, who was also on Sunday's bill, also shared condolences for the victims and their families.
An investigation into the deadly incident is ongoing.
Police are looking at several possible causes, including "possibly crowd size, shots fired, pepper spray and other contributing factors," according to
Police Chief
David M. Smith.
