Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick said it's a miracle more people weren't hurt or killed in a shooting on Memorial Day in Syracuse. The DA confirms police found at least 20 bullet casings in a grassy lot on Bellevue Avenue Monday night, where people gathered for a holiday barbecue.
"People are out celebrating, which is something we would encourage them to do...it was a BBQ," said DA Fitzpatrick. Just before 10 p.m., Syracuse Police responded to the crime scene. Four people were hit by gunfire, one of them died from their injuries later on. DA Fitzpatrick confirms shots were fired from a car stolen from a suburb outside the city.
An "Unknown number of individuals in the vehicle open fire on the crowd. Frankly, it's miraculous that only four people were shot and only one fatality. There were 20 casings recovered from the scene," said Fitzpatrick. "We may find a motive, we may not. I don't have to prove motive, I just have to prove who the occupants of that car were and they're all going to be charged with murder."
Right now, Syracuse Police are combing through surveillance video of the shooting. The DA stresses that anyone who knows something but fears retaliation can make an anonymous tip to help find who is responsible. "I'm not criticizing anybody, but I've gotten 23 emails about a dead swan, I've gotten no emails about a dead 44-year-old man," he said.
Fitzpatrick added, "People will say, well we expect someone to speak for the man ... the swan needs someone to speak for it. Well, that very well may be true, but so far, nobody is speaking on behalf that I know of, to me about this 44-year-old man. There's people out there that know who did this, let's be serious."