Two people are dead Tuesday following a shooting outside a theater in Richmond, Virginia, where a high school graduation ceremony had recently concluded, causing attendees to flee in panic and worry for their loved ones, authorities say.
A 19-year-old suspect was taken into custody and will be charged with two counts of second-degree murder, Interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said at Tuesday night news conference. A second individual who was in custody earlier was determined to not be involved in the shooting.
Edwards also confirmed that an 18-year-old male student and a 36-year-old man who was there for the graduation were killed in the incident. Five others suffered gunshot wounds, with one victim sustaining life-threatening injuries.
Virginia Commonwealth University Health System spokesperson Mary Kate Brogan told The Associated Press late Tuesday that six people, with conditions ranging from serious to critical, were brought to the VCU Medical Center.
Officers inside Altria Theater, where the graduation ceremony for Huguenot High School was taking place, heard gunfire around 5:15 p.m. and radioed to police stationed outside, who found multiple victims, Edwards said. The sudden gunfire caused graduation attendees to frantically flee, The Associated Press reported. Cries could be heard and people were seen holding onto their children in the chaos.
“As they heard the gunfire, it was obviously chaos,” Edwards said. “We had hundreds of people in Monroe Park, so people scattered. It was very chaotic at the scene.”
At least 12 others were treated at the scene or at a hospital for injuries unrelated to the shooting. Police said two people were treated for falls; one child was hit by a car and sustained non-life-threatening injuries; and 9 people were treated for minor injuries or anxiety.
The identities of those injured and the suspect were not immediately released but police believe the suspect knew at least one of the victims.
“We’re going to do everything we can to bring the individuals involved in this to justice,” Mayor Levar Stoney said during the news conference. “This should not be happening anywhere.”
The Richmond Police Department said there was no longer an active threat to the community. People were advised to avoid the area amid the investigation.
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Shooting outside high school graduation ceremony
Matthew Stanley, a spokesperson for Richmond Public Schools, told USA TODAY that the shooting took place outside Monroe Park after a graduation ceremony for Huguenot High School had ended at the theater. Monroe Park is located in downtown Richmond near the Virginia Commonwealth University campus.
Richmond Police spokesperson Tracy Walker said officers found five individuals with gunshot wounds. The victims were transported by ambulance to a local hospital.
Two other victims then arrived at an area hospital a “short time later” and were self-transported, Walker said in an email to USA TODAY.
“This should have been a safe space. People should have felt safe at a graduation,” Edwards said.
The 19-year-old suspect attempted to flee on foot from the scene but was arrested, according to Edwards. Multiple handguns were also recovered.
Richmond City School Board member Jonathan Young told WWBT that graduates and other attendees were leaving the theater when they heard 20 consecutive gunshots ring out.
“That prompted, as you would expect, hundreds of persons in an effort to flee the gunfire to return to the building,” Young told the television station.
“It materialized in a stampede,” he said.
Stanley said the school district has canceled a different graduation that was scheduled for later Tuesday. All district schools will be closed Wednesday “out of an abundance of caution,” Richmond Public Schools said on its website.
VCU alerted the community around 5:30 p.m. that police were responding after shots were fired. State police also sent an alert warning the community to avoid the area.
“My administration continues monitoring the terrible shooting in the heart of Richmond tonight,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin said on Twitter. “State law enforcement are fully supporting the Richmond Police Department as this investigation moves forward.”
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Contributing: The Associated Press
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