A woman screamed out in grief amid a shocked and silent Syracuse neighborhood on Wednesday night.

After hearing news about two Syracuse locals who were shot about two and a half miles away from the Syracuse University campus, more than 60 community members gathered to grieve in the streets and look for answers.

Another woman a few feet away was on her knees crying after she learned of the shooting. Around her, many others surrounded her and attempted to provide comfort.

“I can’t move,” the woman said through sobs.

About 25 community members gathered where the police had taped off the street at about 9:45 p.m. asking questions about what happened and who was involved in the shooting. Some people said they had been waiting for information since about 7:30 p.m., when the shooting was reported.

“Y’all gotta tell us something,” a woman yelled to the police.

Police officers responded repeatedly that they could not give any information.

On the opposite end of the street, a press conference given by Syracuse Police Department Chief Frank Fowler for local news outlets was being held.

A smaller crowd of community members stayed around the area where the press conference took place, still searching for basic information regarding what happened.

Syracuse native Desmont Tillie, 28, said he’s lived around the neighborhood for almost 13 years. He added that he’s experienced shootings like this one and other incidents of gun violence all throughout his life.

“I’ve watched this too many times and there ain’t really too much to dwell on,” Tillie said. “You know certain of these kids and you tell them to be safe constantly and constantly.”

Tillie said the gun violence in the area doesn’t make any sense to him, especially when teenagers are involved.

“You can’t stop, can’t do nothing about it,” Tillie said.

–Feature Editor Jacob Gedetsis, jagedets@syr.edu, contributed reporting to this article.

Published on October 15, 2015 at 12:43 am

Contact Sara: smswann@syr.edu | @saramswann