RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Gunmen firing at an apartment on Midlothian Turnpike on Tuesday evening struck three children and two adult women, killing one of the women. A neighbor from the apartment complex heard the shots ring out while at home with her family.

Neighbor Courtney Hughes says that less than an hour before the shooting started she was outside with her 5-year-old while her fiancé was cutting the grass. When shots rang out they were sitting in their living room with the door open.

Hughes said they heard a “barrage of gunfire” and then what sounded like someone shooting back. Shots stopped for a few seconds and then picked back up again. That’s when Hughes got up to close her door and ran to the back of the house with her two girls.

She says that by the way it sounded, she didn’t think anyone would walk away from that.

“I have kids so I can only imagine what their parents or family, loved ones, are going through right now,” Hughes said. “It brought tears to my eyes when I found out it was teenagers and possibly a young baby.”

She says the violence has to stop, questioning what would make a person mad enough to solve their issues with a gun.

Hughes stayed inside for a while, unsure if police were searching for the suspect in the area.

Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith called on the community for help getting the crime solved on Tuesday night. Smith says there are too many people out there and too many connections between people living at the complex for someone to not know what happened.

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