As previously reported by REVOLT, yesterday (June 6), yet another deadly mass shooting took place in America. This time just outside of a high school graduation ceremony in Virginia where families were gathered to celebrate an honorable milestone.
Individuals were congratulating the teens on completing high school when gunfire erupted shortly after 5 p.m. outside Altria Theater in downtown Richmond, Virginia. As many were filming precious moments just minutes before, some attendees were able to record the melee. Footage quickly circulated online. In total, seven people were shot. Of the fatalities was 36-year-old Renzo Smith and his son, 18-year-old Shawn Jackson. Two people were taken into custody in connection to the crime.
Virginia graduation shooting suspect IDed as Amari Pollard pic.twitter.com/wC8KUqiyDQ
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) June 7, 2023
Today (June 7), authorities identified one of the suspects as Amari Pollard, 19. According to The New York Post, the alleged gunman had “a yearlong feud with his teenage target.” This morning, the 19-year-old received two second-degree murder charges and is being held without bail. Richmond School District Superintendent Jason Kamras recalled the tragic scene after the Huguenot High School graduates earned their diplomas. “I still can’t shake the image of Shawn receiving CPR on the ground still in his graduation gown,” Kamras said today during a community update. He described Jackson as a sociable kid who worked hard to graduate and remembered handing him his diploma less than half an hour before he was killed.
The case is still under investigation, but police in the Virgina town do not have reason to believe the fatal shooting was gang-related. “They knew each other and had an ongoing dispute,” Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards shared. Mayor Levar Stoney condemned the graduation tragedy: “Our city, our community will not be defined by this violence… Huguenot High School will not be defined by this violence. We will heal, we will recover, and this will not break us… The individual who committed this senseless and cowardly act must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”