RICHMOND — Seven individuals had been shot, two fatally, when gunfire rang out Tuesday exterior a downtown theater the place a highschool commencement ceremony had simply ended, inflicting lots of of attendees to flee in panic, weep and clutch their youngsters, authorities and witnesses mentioned.
A 19-year-old suspect tried to flee on foot however was arrested and will probably be charged with two counts of second-degree homicide, Interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards mentioned throughout a nighttime information convention at which he confirmed the 2 fatalities.
Five others had been wounded by the gunfire exterior the state capital’s city-owned Altria Theater, which is throughout the road from a big, grassy park and in the midst of the Virginia Commonwealth University campus. At least 12 others had been injured or handled for anxiousness as a result of mayhem, in response to police.
“As they heard the gunfire, it was obviously chaos,” Edwards mentioned. “We had hundreds of people in Monroe Park, so people scattered. It was very chaotic at the scene.”
Edwards mentioned one of many individuals who was killed was an 18-year-old male scholar who had simply graduated, whereas the opposite was a 36-year-old man who was there for the commencement. Their names weren’t launched, however police consider the suspect, who was not instantly recognized, knew no less than one of many victims.
“This should have been a safe space. People should have felt safe at a graduation,” Edwards mentioned.
“It’s just incredibly tragic that someone decided to bring a gun to this incident and rain terror on our community.”
Six individuals had been dropped at VCU Medical Center and their circumstances ranged from critical to vital late Tuesday, VCU Health System spokesperson Mary Kate Brogan mentioned.
Multiple handguns had been recovered. Police initially mentioned two suspects had been detained, however Edwards mentioned later that they decided certainly one of them was not concerned.
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney vowed to make sure anybody accountable faces justice.
“This should not be happening anywhere,” Stoney mentioned.
Officers contained in the theater, the place the commencement ceremony for Huguenot High School was happening, heard gunfire round 5:15 p.m. and radioed to police stationed exterior, who discovered a number of victims, Edwards mentioned.
School board member Jonathan Young informed Richmond TV station WWBT that graduates and different attendees had been leaving the constructing after they heard about 20 gunshots in speedy succession.
“That prompted, as you would expect, hundreds of persons in an effort to flee the gunfire to return to the building,” Young mentioned.
“It materialized in a stampede,” he mentioned.
Two individuals had been handled for falls; one juvenile was struck by a automotive and sustained accidents that weren’t life-threatening; and 9 individuals had been handled on the scene for minor accidents or anxiousness, in response to police spokeswoman Tracy Walker.
Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras mentioned the brand new graduates had been exterior taking images with households and buddies when the capturing broke out.
“I don’t have any more words on this,” Kamras mentioned. “I’m just tired of seeing people get shot, our kids get shot. And I beg of the entire community to stop, to just stop.”
As he heard the gunshots after which sirens, neighbor John Willard, 69, stepped onto the balcony of his 18th-floor condo. Below, he noticed college students fleeing of their commencement outfits and fogeys hugging youngsters.
“There was one poor woman in front of the apartment block next to ours who was wailing and crying,” Willard mentioned, including that the scene left him deeply saddened.
Edythe Payne was serving to her daughter promote flowers exterior the theater to college students as they left the ceremony. She informed the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the capturing brought about a panic on close by Main Street, which was full of individuals on the time.
“I felt bad because some elderly people were at the graduation and they got knocked down to the ground,” Payne mentioned.
The faculty district mentioned a special commencement scheduled for later Tuesday had been canceled “out of an abundance of caution” and faculties could be closed Wednesday.
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Associated Press journalists Jonathan Drew in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Beatrice Dupuy in New York contributed to this report.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”