Following recent violence, Rochester Park will close early every day, the mayor said

Rochester, New York – Rochester Mayor Malik Evans declared an early closure policy at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park at Manhattan Square, effective immediately, in reaction to recent violent incidents at the park.

Mayor Malik Evans of Rochester has directed that Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park close everyday at 8 p.m. until further notice. Mayor Evans and Rochester Police Chief David Smith announced the legislation just hours after the early Sunday morning horrific shooting.

“I will do everything in my power under the city code and our gun violence state of emergency to prevent these kinds of violent incidents from taking place and to hold people accountable,” said Evans.

The mayor is authorized by state law to impose certain measures during a state of emergency, including curfews and restricted access to specific regions. The state of emergency over gun violence was first declared on July 21, 2022, and it was most recently renewed on June 10, 2024.

The Rochester Police Department will start requesting people to leave the park at seven o’clock in the evening, per Mayor Evans’ orders. Until further notice, the park will officially close at 8:00 p.m.

Chief Smith clarified that staying in city parks after hours is against the law and that anyone caught doing so would face the proper penalties. The park used to close at eleven p.m.

“We want to keep everyone safe,” said Smith. “Please give us a call and either security can go through or officers can go through and we can make sure everyone is being safe.”

The decision was made after the Mayor considered other recent violent incidents. Two ladies who were shot in May had non-life-threatening wounds. At around one in the morning, there was gunfire.

“MLK Park is a great place,” said Evans. “You have the bowl down there, and it’s a great place to hang out, and I want people to hang out there. But I want them to hang out when the park hours are. Not afterwards. Or at least back in the day, when we went to hang out in the park after hours, we didn’t bring drama with us.”

The police chief stated that it was too early in the investigation to comment on whether or not anyone was being investigated for the Sunday morning mass shooting.

With non-life-threatening wounds, six individuals—three men, two women, and a 17-year-old boy—were admitted to the hospital. Joshua Sanchez, 33, was also taken into custody following reports that he had fought and hurt an officer who had responded to the park. On June 28, Sanchez is expected to appear in Rochester City Court. According to the Chief, the officer may miss the rest of the summer’s work due to a serious injury to his knee.