Virginia graduation shooting – updates: Richmond school official recounts victim’s heartbreaking last moments
Seven people shot in incident on Virginia Commonwealth University’s Monroe Park campus on Tuesday afternoon, with Shawn Jackson, 18, and his stepfather Lorenzo Smith, 36, dying of their injuries
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Amari Pollard, the 19-year-old suspect in the gun attack on a high school graduation ceremony in Richmond, Virginia, was arraigned on Wednesday morning and charged with two counts of second-degree murder, according to the Richmond Police Department (RPD).
Seven people were shot in the incident on Virginia Commonwealth University’s Monroe Park campus on Tuesday afternoon, with Shawn Jackson, 18, and his stepfather Lorenzo Smith, 36, dying of their injuries.
“I didn’t know Shawn, but I shook his hand and wished him congratulations about 20 minutes before he died,” Richmond Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras told CNN on Wednesday. “I can’t shake the image of him receiving CPR on the ground, still in his graduation gown.”
The outburst of gunfire caused a stampede as graduates and guests attempted to flee the vicinity, a moment of panic captured in at least one video subsequently posted to Facebook. The Richmond Police Department told The Independent in a statement that detectives have determined the shootings were not a random act but resulted from an ongoing dispute between Mr Pollard and Jackson.
“This should not be happening anywhere,” lamented city mayor Levar Stoney.
“Whether it’s in Richmond, it’s in Virginia, in the United States this should not be happening anywhere. A child should be able to go to their graduation and walk at their graduation and enjoy the accomplishment with their friends and their families.”
‘We cannot continue to live in fear’
The gun violence epidemic is a public health crisis that we must address, said Representative Jennifer McClellan, a Democrat whose district includes Richmond.
“We cannot continue to live in fear. We must address the root causes of gun violence and pass common sense gun safety policies that protect our communities.”
Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, an ardent gun-rights advocate, said in remarks to news outlets near the scene that the problem lies not with guns but with criminals.“We have to figure out what’s going on in our communities,” she said.
US witnesses 278th mass shooting this year
The US has grown grimly accustomed to mass shootings in public places such as schools, shopping centres and churches.
Richmond’s mass shooting was the country’s 278th in the first 157 days of 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive, using the definition of when four or more people are shot or killed in a single incident, not including the shooter.
Two killed and five injured in Richmond high school graduation mass shooting
Police in Richmond, Virginia, responded on Tuesday to a shooting that took place during a high school graduation ceremony on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University.
Seven people were shot in the incident, leaving with three people life-threatening injuries and four with non-life-threatening injuries, Richmond interim police chief Rick Edwards said during a press conference on Tuesday. Two people were killed in the shooting, WRIC reports, and children were among those wounded in the incident, according to the outlet.
My colleague Josh Marcus has more:
‘Multiple’ victims shot at Virginia high school graduation as police hunt gunman
Unverified reports suggest at least four wounded
‘This should have been a safe space’
Multiple handguns were recovered following the shooting outside a downtown theater in Richmond, Virginia, where a high school graduation ceremony had ended, reported the Associated Press.
“This should have been a safe space. People should have felt safe at a graduation,” said Interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards.
“It’s just incredibly tragic that someone decided to bring a gun to this incident and rain terror on our community.”
Shooting at graduation ceremony is second at school-related event in Richmond
Tuesday’s shooting outside a downtown theatre in Richmond, Virginia was the second to occur at a school-related event in the Virginia capital city.
Earlier in April, two students were injured following shooting at George Wythe High School.
Virginia has witnessed 58 school shootings since 1971, according to The Violence Project, reported Richmond Times Dispatch.
In video:
School district cancels different graduation ‘out of an abundance of caution’
The school district in Richmond canceled a different graduation scheduled for later on Tuesday “out of an abundance of caution” following the shooting at the graduation ceremony in Virginia.
The schools would be closed on Wednesday, it added.
Virginia lieutenant governor rebuked over response to tragedy
Winsome Sears, the state’s lieutenant governor, is facing criticism after appearing on TV in the immediate aftermath of yesterday’s tragedy to blame police and city leaders, despite being a passionate pro-gun advocate.
State senator Ghazala Hashmi has posted this picture of her posing with an assault rifle in response to the horrific school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, last May to underline the hypocrisy of her position.
Richmond attack the 278th mass shooting in first 157 days of 2023
Here are the latest mass shooting statistics from the Gun Violence Archive, which, it goes without saying, make for extremely bleak reading.
Facebook video captures moment graduates flee burst of gunfire
The moment gunfire erupted at yesterday’s ceremony, causing hundreds of students and guests to flee in panic, was caught on a video since uploaded to Facebook by one of the event’s attendees.
You can find the clip here should you wish to see it but, be warned, it is distressing.
Other footage of the panicked aftermath has also emerged, some of which you can see below.