2023-06-07 03:12:02
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Two people were killed and five others shot Tuesday following a shooting broke out outside a downtown Richmond theater where a high school graduation ceremony had just taken place. high school, causing hundreds of attendees to flee in terror, burst into tears and hug their children, authorities and witnesses said.
A 19-year-old suspect tried to escape on foot but was taken into custody and faces two counts of second-degree murder, acting Richmond Police Department Chief Rick Edwards said during a news conference confirming the two deaths.
Five other people were shot outside the city-owned Altria Theatre, which sits across the street from a huge park and in the center of the Virginia Commonwealth University Campus. At least two other people were injured or received medical attention for anxiety caused by the chaos, according to police.
“Obviously there was chaos hearing the shots,” Edwards said. There were hundreds of people in Monroe Park, so they started running in all directions. It was a very chaotic scene.”
Edwards said one of the dead was an 18-year-old student who had just graduated and another was a 36-year-old man who attended the graduation. Authorities did not release their names, but police believe the suspect, who was not immediately identified, knew at least one of the victims.
“This should have been a safe place. People should feel safe at a graduation,” said the police chief.
“It is incredibly tragic that someone decided to bring a gun to this incident and bring terror to our community,” he added.
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Associated Press writers Jonathan Drew, in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Beatrice Dupuy, in New York, contributed to this report.
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