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Police stand guard after a shooting incident at a high school graduation ceremony in Richmond, Virginia, USA. Photos/WWBT
VIRGINIA – A gunman opened fire as hundreds of people stood outside after a high school graduation ceremony Tuesday night (6/6/2023) in Richmond, Virginia.
“The shooting killed two people and injured five others,” the city’s police chief said.
“As excitement turned to terror around Richmond’s Monroe Park, other people were injured as they tried to flee gunfire, including a 9-year-old girl who was hit by a car,” Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards told reporters late Tuesday.
Police initially detained two people but later said one person was not involved. “The other, a 19-year-old who investigators say may have known one of the victims and had four pistols, was taken into custody late Tuesday and police will recommend two counts of second-degree murder against him,” Edwards said.
The victims killed were an 18-year-old student who graduated on Tuesday and a 36-year-old man who was attending a ceremony at a theater near the park. They are not identified.
“The shooting occurred in Monroe Park after the Huguenot High School graduation ceremony at the Altria Theater,” Richmond Public Schools official Matthew Stanley said. The park is on the Virginia Commonwealth University campus, across from the theatre.
Apart from the two dead, five other people, a 14-year-old boy and four men aged between 31 and 58, suffered gunshot wounds.
Four of those injured had non-life-threatening injuries, according to Edwards.
“The 9-year-old who was hit by the car was admitted to hospital late Tuesday with non-life-threatening injuries,” Edwards said.
