An 18-year-old and his father were shot and killed while walking out of his high school graduation in Virginia’s state capital on Tuesday, and police say the shooter knew the father and son.The shooting outside the Huguenot High School graduation ceremony in Richmond, Va., also wounded five others. Police have not released a motive for the killing, but on Tuesday night they announced that they have a 19-year-old suspect in custody.
Parker Michels-Boyce for The Washington Post via Getty Images
“People should have felt safe at a graduation,” Interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said, according toThe Associated Press. “It’s just incredibly tragic that someone decided to bring a gun to this incident and rain terror on our community.”
Shooting in Richmond, Virginia.Parker Michels-Boyce for The Washington Post via Getty Images
The shooting happened outside Richmond’s city-owned Altria Theatre, which is located on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. The ceremony had been taking place inside the theater. Moments after it ended, graduates and their families were walking outside the theater to take pictures when the shooting began.
Johnathan Young, a school board member, toldWWBThe heard 20 shots ring out “in rapid succession.”
Edwards said as people heard the shots, the crowd erupted into “chaos.” “We had hundreds of people in Monroe Park, so people scattered,” the police chief said, according to the AP. “It was very chaotic at the scene.”
The shooting left the community rattled and upset. “Children were involved here… this is their graduation day,” Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said. “The question that comes to my mind right now is, is nothing sacred any longer? Is nothing sacred any longer?”
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Jeremy Evans told WWBT he was at the graduation with his daughter, who was singing at the ceremony.“I look at this scenario like we’re supposed to be happy about people graduating,” Evans said. “We’re supposed to be supporting one another, holding one another, loving one another, and then a shooting happens. Come on now. I just think it’s bad. We have to do better.”
source: people.com
