Causes.com
| 6.7.23

Two Killed in Shooting at Virginia High School Graduation

Demand your reps take action on gun violence

Tragedy in Virginia

  • Tragedy struck at a high school graduation ceremony in Virginia, where a student and his stepfather lost their lives, and five others were injured in a targeted shooting. 
  • Renzo Smith, 36, was celebrating his stepson Sean D. Jackson's, 18, graduation when both men were shot and killed. Additionally, a nine-year-old girl, said to be related to the family, was hit by a vehicle during the ensuing chaos but suffered only minor injuries.
  • The shooting occurred shortly after the graduation ceremony for Huguenot High School at Altria Theater in Richmond on Tuesday evening. Families and graduates were leaving the theater when at least eight shots were fired from Monroe Park, directly opposite the theater.
  • People scrambled to escape, carrying young children and seeking refuge in nearby buildings.
  • The five individuals injured in the attack have since recovered and are in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries.

Who was the perpetrator?

  • According to the police, the gunman responsible for the attack has been identified as 19-year-old Omari Pollard. He now faces two counts of second-degree murder, as authorities believe the shooting stemmed from an ongoing dispute.
  • Multiple firearms were recovered from the scene, but law enforcement apprehended Pollard without firing their weapons.

Impacts of the shooting

  • Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney expressed the profound impact of the incident, stating that a day meant for joy and celebration had been abruptly marred by violence. Nevertheless, he affirmed that such acts would not define the city and its community.
  • Interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said:

"This should have been a safe space. People should have felt safe at a graduation. It's just incredibly tragic that someone decided to bring a gun to this incident and rain terror on our community."

  • Superintendent of Richmond Public Schools, Jason Kamras, echoed these sentiments, pleading with the community to end the cycle of violence and protect their children from such tragedies, saying, "I don't have any more words on this, I'm tired of seeing people get shot, our kids get shot."
  • The incident serves as a somber reminder of gun violence's impact on American lives and the urgent need to address this issue.

 

Enough is enough. Demand your reps take action on gun violence. 

 

-Emma Kansiz

(Photo credit:

  • 254
    Robert
    06/20/2023

    I promote gun control legislation.  As a hunter from South Dakota, now living in Fl., I believe certain weapons are allowable for hunting.  The Right to Bear Arms is fair and part of our rights here in America.  However, AR 15's are unnessary and are killing American's everyday.  We have to have gun control legislation.  It must be more difficult to obtain weapons of violence.  I am discouraged by the news of how many deaths occur at the hands of Americans with AR 15's.  Please act on gun control legislation.  Thank you.

  • 35
    Gene
    06/08/2023

    The bad guys in these situations love the push-back and violence. Their goal is to broaden their celebrity.  Fairness and justice simply aren't in their vocabulary.  I'm guessing nobody here returned fire.

     

    They know the standard leftist media response is GRAB THE GUNS, GRAB THE GUNS!!  But we all should ask, WHAT GUNS?!! I'd also ask whom they hope to disarm. The victims invariably were disarmed by their own misanthropic government. It's ridiculous.

  • 1,304
    anihundt
    06/09/2023

    There was a shootings at a 10 years girl funeral. The pallbearer was shot. Guess what the 10 year died of? Yes,  she was shit at a funeral.

    Thus is absolutely ridiculous.

    There needs to be commonsense gun laws.

    Again, to the gun lovers, everyone is a law abiding citizen until they decide to kill.

    Like the woman who never opened the door but shot her neighbor in front of her children. This3 children are traumatized. What have they learned.This was a white woman who shot a black woman with children present.

    We also cannot say it is black people shooting black people.

    The person who shot Ralph Yarl was white.

    48 Hours, Dateline, and 20/20 always do news segments on white people who were murdered by other white people. Which is the reality shows Oxygen, Snapped and We Network show.

    Murder and mass shootings is everyones' issue. We need to protect everyone.

  • 3,354
    Steph
    06/08/2023

    How many more people have to be shot and killed before something is done?  I do not CARE that the NRA has their checkbooks all over the GOP-it's time for everyone else to DO something-PEOPLE ARE BEING KILLED!  CHILDREN ARE BEING KILLED!

  • 237
    Bonnie
    06/08/2023

    We are a country where no place is safe to go without the fear of gun violence - to school, to the movies, to church, to the grocery store, to drive anywhere. People die horrible, unnecessary deaths every single day at the hands of gun wielding maniacs, and the government stands by and does nothing because of second amendment “rights”. What about the rest of us who just want to live with some feeling of safety and peace in our homes and communities, not to be sitting ducks for the entitled gun owners? Our rights matter every bit as much as those who want to own and use weapons of destruction. It’s about time we were considered equally. Violence begets violence, and our gun culture proves it every single day. It’s way past time that something meaningful was done to restore a safe way of life in our country, and thoughts and prayers were not the only action taken.

  • 8,997
    Charles
    06/08/2023

    Majior action to be taken :

    VOTE OUT ALL CONGRESS MEMBERS THAT ARE FAVORED BY THE NRA.

  • 48.5k
    Brian
    06/08/2023

    I actually haven't heard much about this yet, but once again there are too many guns in a state with few restrictions. 

    We need gun reform, and we needed it at least 150 days ago. It's time to protect lives.

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  • 1,219
    Dennis
    06/08/2023

    Blacks are the main shooters in every case

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  • 2,418
    Martha
    06/08/2023

    Until we get some commonsense gun control these mass shootings are only going to continue and more needless losses will occur.   However, as we've seen time and time again, the GD Republicans are content to allow this caranage to continue.

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    Today at 2:26 PM
  • 94.6k
    LeslieG
    06/07/2023

    VA is a permit-less, open carry state with 2nd amendment sanctuary jurisdictions (sheriffs, county boards, local politicians) swear that they will not enforce state red flag laws of which 100 of 134 counties participate in.

    One of my friends who lives in VA actually asked a man carrying an assault rifle in a grocery store why he needed it to go grocery shopping and received an angry glare.

    VA ended corporal punishment in schools in 1989, so anyone older than 30 something grew up viewing violence as a way to settle interpersonal conflict and probably raise their kids this way even if it’s no longer allowed in schools.

    So what possibly could go wrong?

    https://www.findlaw.com/state/virginia-law/virginia-corporal-punishment-in-public-schools-laws.html

    https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/resources/ccw_reciprocity_map/va-gun-laws/#

    https://everytownlaw.org/documents-reveal-many-virginia-lawless-counties-admit-their-second-amendment-sanctuaries-are-legally-meaningless-they-are-also-rooted-in-discredited-legal-theories/

    https://tacticalgear.com/experts/second-amendment-sanctuary-reviewed-every-u-s-state-and-county