Gunman who opened fire after Virginia high school graduation targeted graduate, Richmond police say

RICHMOND, Va. — A gunman who opened fire minutes after a high school graduation in Richmond, Virginia, targeted an 18-year-old graduate he had a long-running dispute with, police said Wednesday.

Shawn Jackson, 18, and his father, Lorenzo Smith, 36, were both killed Tuesday in the gunfire, which sent hundreds fleeing in panic outside the state capital's Altria Theater after the graduation ceremony for Huguenot High School. Five other people were wounded by gunfire, and at least 12 more suffered other injuries or were treated for anxiety due to the mayhem, according to police.

Richmond Interim Police Chief Rick Edwards said the shooting suspect, Amari Pollard, 19, knew Jackson and the two had been embroiled in a dispute for more than a year. Edwards said the nature of the dispute is still being investigated.

“This was targeted at one individual . ... That's what we know at this time,” Edwards said during a news conference Wednesday.

Pollard was arraigned Wednesday morning on two counts of second-degree murder, said Colette Mceachin, Richmond's top prosecutor. Pollard said he intends to hire an attorney, so the court continued the case until a hearing later this month, Mceachin wrote in an email. Pollard was ordered held without bond. Court records did not immediately list an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Jackson had just received his diploma at the graduation ceremony and had walked to a nearby park with his father to reunite with the rest of their family when the shooting started, said Tameeka Jackson-smith, Jackson's mother and Smith's wife. She said Smith was Jackson's father, while Edwards later referred to Smith as his stepfather.

Jackson-smith told The Associated Press that her and Smith's 9-year-old daughter was hit by a car in the chaos that erupted afterward. The girl was treated for leg injuries and released from the hospital, Jackson-smith said.

Jackson-smith said the family had watched the graduation, then got separated in a large crowd after they walked outside. “He was so happy — oh my God — because he got to graduate. He worked hard,” she said of her son.