‘Multiple’ victims shot at Virginia high school graduation as police hunt gunman
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Police in Richmond, Virginia, are searching for the person responsible for a Tuesday shooting that took place during a high school graduation ceremony on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University.
According to the university’s safety alert system, shots were fired on the Monroe Park campus after 5pm Eastern time, near the Altria Theater.
VCU police said on Tuesday there’s no ongoing threat to the public.
Four to five people may have been wounded in the incident, WWBT reports, citing unnamed sources.
The shooting took place outside of Huguenot High School’s graduation ceremony, Richmond Public Schools told the station.
Jason Alexander, whose son was part of the graduation ceremony, told NBC12 the shooting sounded like “fireworks” and sent crowds scattering outside the theater.
The man says he saw multiple injured and estimates he heard eight to 10 shots fired.
“It just don’t make no sense,” another bystander told the station. “We’re supposed to be happy about people. We’re supposed to be supporting one another, loving on another, hugging one another. Come on now. I just think it’s bad. We have to do better.”
The man told the station one of his daughter’s friends was among the wounded.
The incident occured close to the end of the ceremony, witnesses told WTVR.
“This is heartbreaking,” congresswoman Jennifer McClellan of Virginia wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “My staff & I are closely monitoring this situation. Praying for the safety of everyone involved. I encourage everyone who can to avoid the area.”
Bystander video of the shooting from bystanders shows throngs of people running across the campus green after the shooting.
Virginia state police and Richmond police enforcement officers are on campus investigating.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated with new information.