A neighborhood dispute over dogs in Rochester, New York, turned deadly on the afternoon of June 23, 2024. The sequence began around 12:30 p.m. when a loose dog ran from a porch and attacked a dog being walked by a relative of 32-year-old Akeem Wagstaff. A verbal argument followed between Wagstaff’s relative and the other dog’s owner, identified as Bradford Clark Jr. A few minutes later Clark allegedly walked to Wagstaff’s home and another altercation began. During that confrontation Clark shot Wagstaff once in the upper body. Wagstaff was found in his driveway, taken to Strong Hospital, and died several hours later.

Rochester police located and arrested 35-year-old Clark shortly after the shooting on Cottage Street. Officers searched homes on Michigan and Cottage streets and recovered three handguns. Clark was on parole for a prior assault conviction tied to a 2014 fatal shooting and was prohibited from possessing firearms. He was charged with second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon; a jury later acquitted Clark of second-degree murder but convicted him on two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

Did anyone in the neighborhood see the initial dog attack or the confrontation at Wagstaff’s house?