Two people are killed and five injured in a mass shooting at a high school graduation in Virginia

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Police in Richmond, Virginia, responded Tuesday to a shooting that occurred during a high school graduation ceremony on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University.

Seven people were injured in the incident, with three people injured, and four others with non-life-threatening injuries, Richmond Interim Police Chief Rick Edwards said during a press conference on Tuesday. The center reported that two people were killed in the shooting, and children were among the injured in the incident.

He added that five others were taken to hospital and sustained other injuries. Bystanders were also injured fleeing the shooting, including one fatality and one person hit by a car.

Edwards said two people had been arrested in connection with the violence.

According to the university’s safety alert system, the shooting took place on the Monroe Park campus just after 5 p.m. ET, near the Altria Theatre.

“The kids here are involved,” Levar Stoney, Mayor of Richmond, said on Tuesday. “This is their graduation day.” “The question that comes to my mind now is, Is there nothing sacred anymore? Is there nothing sacred anymore?”

“This has to stop. We know where it starts,” Lt. Gov. Winsome Earl Sears of Virginia said Tuesday, speaking to reporters from campus. “If I had the accountability and the responsibility, this wouldn’t continue to happen. The people elected here are responsible. They have to make this adjustment so that this shooting doesn’t continue.”

Three officers were off duty inside the theater and heard gunfire at about 5.13pm, as they ran outside and interviewed the victims.

VCU Police said Tuesday that there is no ongoing threat to the public.

Multiple injuries reported. “No immediate threat to the public,” the Richmond Police Department tweeted Tuesday. “Avoid the area.”

The Richmond Public Schools told the station that the shooting took place outside a Huguenot high school graduation ceremony.

Jason Alexander, whose son was part of the graduation ceremony, told NBC12 that the gunfire sounded like “fireworks” and sent the crowds scattering off stage.

The man says he saw several injured people and estimates that he heard between 8 and 10 gunshots.

“It makes no sense,” a passer-by told the station. “We’re supposed to be happy with people. We’re supposed to support each other, love each other, and hug each other. Come on now. I just think it sucks. We have to do better.”

The man told the station that one of his daughter’s friends was among the wounded.

“Everyone literally started running for their lives,” one witness told 8News.

Witnesses told WTVR that the incident occurred near the end of the ceremony.

“Heartbreaking,” Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan of Virginia wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “The staff and I are watching this situation closely. Praying for the safety of everyone involved. I encourage everyone who can to avoid the area.”

Video of the bystander shooting shows crowds of people running across the green campus after the shooting.

Virginia State Police and Richmond Police Enforcement Officers are investigating the campus.

Local journalists saw police searching a car near the university campus.

School officials wrote on the RPS website that Richard Public Schools will be closed Wednesday following the shooting.

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