On July 28, 2024, a community barbecue at Maplewood Park in Rochester, New York, ended in tragedy when gunfire erupted around 6:20 p.m. Multiple weapons were fired into the crowd of hundreds, prompting a chaotic stampede. Seven people were struck; 34-year-old Phylicia Phe Council and 25-year-old city employee Tyasia Manning later died of their injuries. Five others suffered non-life-threatening wounds.

Phylicia Council had spent about a decade working with special needs children at a Hillside group home and was remembered by her father as his baby girl. The Rochester Police Department described the attackers as unmitigated cowards and has identified multiple people who were armed at the park, but investigators say cooperation from witnesses has been limited. In February 2025 police arrested 21-year-old Niger Johnson on weapons-related charges for allegedly firing a handgun at the scene, though authorities do not believe his shots struck the victims. No one has been charged with the murders of Council and Manning and the investigation remains active.

If anyone attended the barbecue or has information about who fired the fatal shots, please share what is known with investigators.