At least 9 people were wounded when gunfire erupted Saturday night at an outdoor party in Syracuse, including a 17-year-old boy who was left in critical condition after he was shot in the head, based on reports.
According to Police Chief Kenton Buckner, the victims had been rushed to Upstate Medical University after the shootings near Fayette and Wyoming streets, the Post-Standard reported.
A witness said the bullets were flying during the annual outdoor gathering known as “Rye Day,” which was scheduled to end at 9 p.m..
A few hundred people crowded into a square close to the WCNY building to partake in the festivities, which included music and meals.
Just before 9 p.m., about a dozen shots rang out, causing the crowd to scatter, a witness told the newspaper, adding that a man sitting on his knees was holding his chest with his hands.
All nine victims were sent to the hospital with various injuries although the most seriously hurt was also the youngest: a 17-year-old male.
- Man, age 17 (critical, shot in the head)
- Woman, age 18 (shot in the leg)
- Woman, age 19 (shot in the leg)
- Woman, age 20 (shot in the leg)
- Man, age 22 (shot in the leg)
- Man, age 23 (shot in the groin and leg)
- Man, age 29 (shot in the neck)
- Woman, age 37 (shot in the shoulder)
- Woman, age 53 (shot in the back)
“I said, ‘Come on, man, we gotta go! They’re shooting!’” the witness said. “He said, ‘I can’t, man, I got shot.’ So he simply sat there waiting for help.”
He added: “When I took off, at least 10 cop cars were flying, flying, flying.”
One individual being taken to the hospital in a private vehicle collided with a police vehicle, according to the police chief, who said no one had been arrested by about 11 p.m.
The age of the victims range from seventeen to fifty-three, together with several who were shot in the leg and a person who was shot in the neck. The 53-year-old is a woman who was shot in the back and midsection, the news reported.
Buckner told reporters that the incident was first called in as a stolen vehicle complaint, WSYR-TV reported.
“I believe we have two or three different scenes, so I don’t know which location contributed to what victims,” he said.
Mayor Ben Walsh stated he was unaware of any city approvals issued for the gathering.
“We wouldn’t issue approvals for a gathering of this size. So, we’re going to have to look into how it came to be,” he added, according to CNN.
Rye Day is the brainchild of Ryedell Davis, who has had boisterous birthday parties for 14 years close to Martin Luther King Boulevard and South State Street, his mother Annetta Peterson told The Post-Standard.
However this year, city housing officials informed her she couldn’t organize the party due to traffic issues so the event was moved to a square near West Side, she added.
Peterson said the occasion was always peaceful till this year.
“I’ve had a birthday party for my son every year, and this never happened,” she said. “This never, ever happened.”
