Man armed with 4 handguns kills two after highschool commencement ceremony in Virginia

A person armed with 4 handguns killed two individuals and wounded 5 others by firing right into a crowd exterior a highschool commencement ceremony in Virginia, inflicting lots of to flee in panic, police stated.

A 19-year-old man, who’s believed to know one of many victims, was arrested in Richmond shortly after the incident exterior the Huguenot High School’s graduation ceremony on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University.

The suspect is anticipated to be charged with two counts of second-degree homicide along with different offences, interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards instructed a information convention.

He referred to as the shooter’s behaviour “disgusting and cowardly”, since his dispute seemed to be with only one individual.

“When you have a crowd like this, innocent people are going to be caught up in the mayhem, and that’s what happened today,” Mr Edwards stated.

“Obviously, this should have been a safe space… It’s just incredibly tragic that someone decided to bring a gun to this incident and rain terror on our community.”

The mass taking pictures was the 279th to happen within the US within the first 157 days of 2023, in line with the Gun Violence Archive. It defines a taking pictures as a mass taking pictures when 4 or extra individuals are shot or killed in a single incident, not together with the shooter.

Among these killed was an 18-year-old male pupil who had simply graduated and a 36-year-old man, Mr Edwards stated.

He didn’t affirm a neighborhood TV report saying the victims had been father and son.

A 31-year-old man suffered life-threatening accidents and 4 different males aged 14, 32, 55 and 58 had been anticipated to outlive, he added.

Read extra:
One lifeless and 6 injured after assault at Chicago memorial
Four killed in taking pictures in New Mexico
Winnie The Pooh characters utilized in US college district’s mass shootings security e book

Nine-year-old injured in chaos

Mr Edwards stated a nine-year-old woman was struck by a automobile within the ensuing chaos and a number of other different individuals had been injured in falls or suffered from anxiousness.

The suspect fled the scene on foot and was captured in possession of 4 handguns, three of which can have been fired, Mr Edwards stated.

The college district stated a special commencement scheduled for afterward Tuesday was cancelled “out of an abundance of caution” and colleges can be closed on Wednesday.