Richmond Police Offer Possible Motive On Graduation Shooting

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Source: The Washington Post / Getty

Tragedy struck downtown Richmond on Tuesday (June 7) when a day of celebration for students at Huguenot High School was marred by a gunman who took aim shortly after the commencement of their graduation day.

According to police, the gunman targeted an 18-year-old graduate he had a long-running dispute with, police said during an update on the incident Wednesday.

Two individuals, 18-year-old Shawn Jackson, 18, Lorenzo Smith, father of Shawn, both died in the shooting, which sent hundreds ducking for cover outside Altria Theater. Five others were wounded in the shooting.The suspected gunman, identified as Amari Pollard, 19, of Henrico, reportedly had “an ongoing dispute.”

“You can sometimes see a blinking red light of an incident like this occurring because the disputes start on social media, and they’re magnified,” Interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said. “Where you can be disrespected in a school setting, and maybe 30 people see it, it if it’s online, thousands of people see it and that’s how we can get to this point over what would typically be a trivial matter.”