Multiple people were shot Tuesday afternoon outside a high school graduation event being held on campus at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, according to local reports.
There are five confirmed victims, WTKR News 3 reported. Officials told the station that three of those sustained life-threatening injuries, while the other two are in “grave” condition. Two people were also taken into custody in connection with the incident.
Richmond Public Schools confirmed to NBC 12 that the incident happened outside a campus theater during Huguenot High School’s graduation ceremony, but offered few other details.
A subsequent graduation event for Thomas Jefferson High School has since been canceled.
VCU sent out its initial alert just after 5 p.m. ET, warning of a shooting at the school’s Monroe Park campus.
“The Richmond Police and VCU Police Departments, with support from Virginia State Police and Henrico Police, are on scene near the Altria Theater for a shooting incident,” another alert from VCU said. “There is no ongoing threat to the community but there is a heavy police presence at Monroe Park. Richmond Police are leading the investigation.”
A witness, who goes by Michelle Foxx on Facebook, posted a livestream of the carnage, showing paramedics performing CPR on a victim amid strewn shoes and graduation caps.
She claimed one of the victims was a young graduate who “just walked across that stage” and another was a man who had been standing beside him.
Local station CBS 6 appeared to confirm the account, reporting that one of the victims with life-threatening injuries was a 17-year-old—and that one of the people injured escaped the gunfire only to be hit by a car while fleeing the scene.
Foxx also said that police had already been manning a corner next to the theater. “When the gunshots first started going off I didn’t think there were gunshots because the police were so close,” she said.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
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