A high school graduate and his step-father were shot and killed on Tuesday during a shooting that took place after Huguenot High School’s graduation ceremony in Richmond, Virginia.
Shawn Jackson, 18, and Lorenzo Smith, 36, were identified as the two victims killed, Jackson’s mother and Smith’s wife Tameek Jackson-Smith confirmed to NBC News.
Smith was attending his son’s graduation on the Virginia Commonwealth University campus Tuesday evening when the shooting occurred.
The gunfire erupted at Monroe Park, an open space on the campus, at around 5.15pm local time.
Five other victims, all male and ranging in age from 14 to 58, were injured, Richmond’s interim police chief Rick Edwards said at a press conference.
There were two other individuals who went to the hospital with injuries “other than gunshots” including a nine-year-old girl who was struck by a car.
Mr Edwards said in a news conference on Wednesday that the girl was related to the two victims and was being treated for “minor injuries”.
Following the shooting, police took two suspects into custody, one of which police believe was not involved in the shooting and the other is a 19-year-old who police believe was involved.
The teenager has been identified as Amari Ty’Jon Pollard and was arraigned on Wednesday morning on two counts of second-degree murder according to court records from the Office of the Sheriff of the City of Richmond.
He is being held without bond with more potential charges to follow.
Richmond Public Schools posted a notice to their website, offering their condolences to the victims and families of the shooting and providing resources for those impacted by the graduation shooting.
It also said all Richmond Public Schools would be closed on Wednesday (7 June) and high schools graduations would be cancelled.
Superintendent Jason Kamras appeared in a news conference on Tuesday and said: “I’m tired of seeing people get shot, our kids get shot, and I beg of the entire community to stop.”
