Virginia graduation shooting – updates: Richmond school official recounts victim’s heartbreaking last moments

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Amari Pollard, the 19-year-old suspect in the gun attack on a high school graduation ceremony in Richmond, Virginia, was arraigned on Wednesday morning and charged with two counts of second-degree murder, according to the Richmond Police Department (RPD).

Seven people were shot in the incident on Virginia Commonwealth University’s Monroe Park campus on Tuesday afternoon, with Shawn Jackson, 18, and his stepfather Lorenzo Smith, 36, dying of their injuries.

“I didn’t know Shawn, but I shook his hand and wished him congratulations about 20 minutes before he died,” Richmond Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras told CNN on Wednesday. “I can’t shake the image of him receiving CPR on the ground, still in his graduation gown.”

The outburst of gunfire caused a stampede as graduates and guests attempted to flee the vicinity, a moment of panic captured in at least one video subsequently posted to Facebook. The Richmond Police Department told The Independent in a statement that detectives have determined the shootings were not a random act but resulted from an ongoing dispute between Mr Pollard and Jackson.

“This should not be happening anywhere,” lamented city mayor Levar Stoney.

“Whether it’s in Richmond, it’s in Virginia, in the United States this should not be happening anywhere. A child should be able to go to their graduation and walk at their graduation and enjoy the accomplishment with their friends and their families.”