Virginia graduation shooting – updates: Richmond school official recounts victim’s heartbreaking last moments

Richmond Public Schools posted a notice to their website, informing students, families and staff that school would be closed on Wednesday 7 June and high school graduations would be cancelled this week.

“RPS schools and offices are closed today, Wednesday, June 7. All high school graduations this week have also been canceled. RPS will share further updates soon about rescheduling commencement ceremonies,” Richmond Public Schools wrote.

They also extended their condolences to the victims and families of the shooting that left two people dead and five others injured and offered resources for people or children who need to speak with a counselor.

“Additionally, the RBHA Mobile Crisis Unit along with other partners will serve as a support to RPS families and staff. Mental Health Support and Counseling services will be available today from 11:00 am - 4:00 pm at the Huguenot Community Center”.

Seven people were shot in the incident on Virginia Commonwealth University’s Monroe Park campus on Tuesday afternoon, with Shawn Jackson, 18, and his stepfather Lorenzo Smith, 36, dying of their injuries.

“I didn’t know Shawn, but I shook his hand and wished him congratulations about 20 minutes before he died,” Jason Kamras told CNN on Wednesday.

“I can’t shake the image of him receiving CPR on the ground, still in his graduation gown.”

Rick Edwards, the interim chief of police for Richmond, said authorities would be conducting tracing on the handgun used in the shooting on Tuesday afternoon that killed two people and injured five others.

The handgun was allegedly used by the suspected shooter 19-year-old Amari Ty’Jon Pollard.

However, due to Mr Pollard’s age, he would not have been able to purchase the firearm himself. Mr Edwards said they would be determining where it came from.

A nine-year-old child who is related to the two fatal victims is among those injured during the Tuesday shooting, CBS reports.

She is recovering at hospital and is expected to survive.

Two people were killed and five others injured during a shooting after a high school graduation in Richmond, Virginia on Tuesday.

The Independent’s Ariana Baio reports:

Richmond Police Department interim chief Rick Edwards said in a press conference on Wednesday that the suspect in the high school graduation shooting had a long-running dispute with one of the victims, 18-year-old Shawn Jackson.

“They knew each other, this was a dispute that we’re hearing took place over the course of over a year,” Mr Edwards said.

The suspect, 19-year-old Amari Ty’Jon Pollard, had apparently attended the graduation before getting into an exchange with Jackson.

Mr Edwards said the two had an interaction in which “words were exchanged” that led to the violent attack.

“I wouldn’t say [Mr Pollard] was waiting for [Jackson]. I think there was an interaction and then it appears the suspect went to his car to retrieve the gun and return,” Mr Edwards said.

Five people were shot and two were killed when gunfire rang out Tuesday outside a downtown theater where a high school graduation ceremony had recently concluded, causing attendees to flee in panic, weep and clutch their children, authorities and witnesses reported.

Interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said at a news conference announced an arrest. Amari Pollard, the 19-year-old suspect in the gun attack, was arraigned on Wednesday morning and charged with two counts of second-degree murder.

Officers inside the theater heard gunfire around 5:15 p.m. and radioed to police stationed outside, who found multiple victims, Edwards said.

Edythe Payne was helping her daughter sell flowers outside the theater to students as they left the ceremony.

She told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the shooting caused a panic on nearby Main Street, which was packed with people at the time.

“I felt bad because some elderly people were at the graduation and they got knocked down to the ground,” Payne said.

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.

Shawn Jackson, 18, and Lorenzo Smith, 36, were killed during a shooting after a high school graduation in Virginia.

The Independent’s Ariana Baio reports: