(RICHMOND, Va.) — Two people were killed and several others were hurt in a mass shooting following a high school graduation in Richmond, Virginia, police said.
A 19-year-old suspect is in custody in connection with the shooting, which unfolded in a park on Tuesday after the Huguenot High School graduation ended in a nearby theater.
Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said authorities believe the suspect knew at least one of the shooting victims.
Killed in the shooting were Huguenot High School graduate Shawn Jackson, 18, and his father, Renzo Smith, 36.
Five people were shot and survived: four adults and a 14-year-old boy, authorities said. One victim, a 31-year-old, is in the hospital in life-threatening condition while the other four suffered non-life-threatening injures, authorities said.
Several others suffered various injuries in connection to the shooting. Jackson’s 9-year-old sister was hit by a car and hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. Two people were treated for falls and nine people were treated for anxiety and minor injuries at the scene, police said.
The shooting took place around 5:13 p.m. in Monroe Park, near Virginia Commonwealth University, officials said. The scene was near the Altria Theater, which was scheduled to host several graduation ceremonies for Richmond Public Schools on Tuesday.
Students in graduation gowns could be seen running away.
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney called the shooting a “selfish, senseless act.”
“A child should be able to go to their graduation and walk up to graduation and enjoy the accomplishment with their friends and their families,” Stoney told reporters.
Thomas Jefferson High School’s graduation ceremony scheduled for Tuesday night was canceled and all Richmond Public Schools are closed Wednesday “out of an abundance of caution,” the school district said.
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