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Two dead in shooting following Richmond high school graduation

Mallory Noe-Payne
/
Radio IQ
9PM UPDATE

Richmond police say two individuals — an 18-year-old male and a 36-year-old male — who were wounded during the shooting Tuesday evening have died.

One person is still facing life-threating injuries.

Police say a 19-year-old, male suspect is in custody in connection to the shooting. Interim police chief Rick Edwards says his department has already been in touch with the Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney's office and will be seeking two second-degree murder charges against the suspect — with potentially other charges to come.

Police believe the suspect knew one of the victims.

The department's investigation into the shooting is still underway. Police are asking anyone who may have photos or video of the incident to pass that along to them.

City officials are planning to release more information Wednesday.

PRIOR UPDATES

Seven people were shot, three of them with life-threatening injuries, after gunfire rang out near Virginia Commonwealth University in downtown Richmond following a high school graduation ceremony Tuesday, according to police and school district officials.

Two suspects were taken into custody after the incident, Interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said at a news conference.

Edwards said officers inside a theater where the graduation was taking place heard the gunfire, went outside and saw multiple victims with gunshot wounds.

Four had injuries that were not life-threatening, he said.

Police did not believe there was any ongoing threat to the community.

“We’re going to do everything we can to bring the individuals involved in this to justice,” Mayor Levar Stoney said at the news conference. “This should not be happening anywhere.”

Richmond Public Schools said in a message on its website that the shooting took place in Monroe Park, which is near the college campus, after a graduation ceremony for Huguenot High School.

VCU advised the community in an online alert around 5:30 p.m. that police were responding after shots were fired. State police sent an alert warning people to avoid the area.

The school district said a different graduation scheduled for later Tuesday had been canceled “out of an abundance of caution" and that schools would be closed Wednesday.

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Nick Gilmore is a meteorologist, news producer and reporter/anchor for RADIO IQ.
Mallory Noe-Payne is a Radio IQ reporter based in Richmond.