A fight near Glendale Park on Dewey Avenue turned violent Sunday evening, leaving two women stabbed; a 14-year-old girl and a 36-year-old woman were shot in the lower body, and the 21-year-old woman who was stabbed was also shot. Rochester police say the shooter fled on foot and had not been captured as of Sunday night.
Officers responded to the 600 block of Dewey Avenue after receiving a report of shots fired, according to 13WHAM, which reported that a fight involving multiple people escalated into a stabbing before a suspect opened fire on the group. ShotSpotter's acoustic gunfire detection technology recorded four rounds fired in the area near Glendale Park before officers arrived, according to a WNY First Alert report. ShotSpotter is an acoustic gunfire detection technology.
A 21-year-old woman and a 25-year-old woman suffered stab wounds to the upper body and were driven to Rochester General Hospital by personal vehicle, the station's report states, both with non-life-threatening injuries. The 21-year-old woman was later determined to also have a gunshot wound. A 14-year-old girl and a 36-year-old woman were struck by gunfire in the lower body and were taken by EMS to Strong Memorial Hospital, which operates the region's Level I trauma center, also with non-life-threatening injuries.
Suspect Description and K-9 Search
Initial police scanner dispatches described the suspected shooter as a Black male wearing a black hoodie, red sweatpants, and black shoes, per the same account. Officers requested a K-9 unit, and the suspect fled on foot. As of Sunday night, 13WHAM reported no suspects were in custody. Rochester police blocked off the intersection of Dewey Avenue and Glendale Park while investigating, and asked anyone with information to call 911.
A Northwest Rochester Neighborhood Under the Microscope
The incident occurred on Rochester's northwest side. The city has sought to curb late-night gatherings. A city rule bans gatherings of more than 10 people after 11 p.m., as reported by WXXI News.
Evans has continuously renewed Rochester's local Gun Violence State of Emergency since taking office in 2022, a designation that grants city officials expanded authority to close commercial properties deemed violence hotspots, WXXI News notes. Rochester has seen an overall decline in violence, while city officials have pursued several approaches to address it.
Assaults Still Make Up a Large Share of Violent Crime
Even with those gains, Rochester's most recent quarterly data suggests neighborhood-level violence hasn't disappeared. Violent crime stayed nearly flat during the first quarter of 2026, with 232 reported incidents compared to 234 during the same period in 2025, according to the Rochester Beacon, which noted that aggravated assaults represented a proportionally large share of overall violent offenses. State funding has also played a role in the broader trend: the New York Governor's Office reported in May 2025 that shooting incidents in Rochester had fallen 20 percent year-to-date under the state's Gun Involved Violence Elimination initiative, backed by $35 million in regional public safety grants.
No suspects had been named or arrested as of Sunday night, and it remains unclear whether investigators have identified a motive connecting the four victims.
