Seven people were shot, three of them with life-threatening injuries, after gunfire rang out near Virginia Commonwealth University in downtown Richmond following a high school graduation ceremony Tuesday, according to police and school district officials.
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Two suspects were taken into custody after the incident, Interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said at a news conference.
Edwards said officers inside a theater where the graduation was taking place heard the gunfire, went outside and saw multiple victims with gunshot wounds.
Four had injuries that were not life-threatening, he said.
Police did not believe there was any ongoing threat to the community.
“We’re going to do everything we can to bring the individuals involved in this to justice,” Mayor Levar Stoney said at the news conference. “This should not be happening anywhere.”
Richmond Public Schools said in a message on its website that the shooting took place in Monroe Park, which is near the college campus, after a graduation ceremony for Huguenot High School.
VCU advised the community in an online alert around 5:30 p.m. that police were responding after shots were fired. State police sent an alert warning people to avoid the area.
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The school district said a different graduation scheduled for later Tuesday had been cancelled “out of an abundance of caution” and that schools would be closed Wednesday.