Police in Richmond, Virginia, said a man with four pistols opened fire on a gathering during a high school graduation ceremony, killing two and wounding five. On Tuesday, police announced they had detained a 19-year-old male in connection with a gunshot that occurred near the venue where VCU’s commencement ceremony had taken place. Interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards informed reporters that the defendant will likely face many charges, including two counts of second-degree murder. “As soon as they heard the gunfire, it was obviously chaos,” he added. Many hundreds of people converged in Monroe Park, and then they dispersed. The situation was a complete mess.
Edwards said the attacker’s actions were “disgusting and cowardly” since it seemed like he had a personal grudge towards one individual. According to Edwards, the slain guys ranged in age from 18 to 36. The victims were not publicly identified, but authorities think the suspect knew at least one of them. Edwards stated that among the injured, a 31-year-old guy was in critical condition but that four other men, ages 14, 32, 55, and 58, were considered to have a good chance of survival. Edwards said that other individuals were hurt in falls or had anxiety as a result of the mayhem that erupted, including a nine-year-old girl who was hit by a car. Edwards said it was too soon to tell if any of the suspect’s four pistols had been discharged when he was arrested, but that the man had fled the area on foot. Edwards clarified that one of the two individuals first reported held by police turned out to be innocent.
According to a statement posted on the Richmond Public Schools website, the incident occurred at Monroe Park, which is across the street from the theatre and next to the college campus, during the Huguenot High School graduation ceremony. According to Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras, the incident occurred after the ceremony had concluded and the graduates were outside taking photographs with their loved ones. “I can’t say anything else,” Kamras finally said. I’m sick and weary of hearing gunshots and seeing bloodshed. And I implore the whole neighborhood to cease and desist immediately. In the United States, mass shootings in locations like schools, malls, and churches have become the norm.
