RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) – Two weeks after the conclusion of a third-party investigation into the mass shooting at Huguenot High School’s graduation ceremony, a Richmond Public Schools (RPS) board member says he wants his board to release the full report to the public.
On the night of June 6, seven people were shot as a crowd convened outside the Altria Theater in Richmond at the end of Huguenot High School’s graduation ceremony. 18-year-old Huguenot student Shawn Jackson was killed, as well as his stepfather, Lorenzo Smith.
After an internal investigation in July resulted in six changes to the school district’s policies being recommended, administrators commissioned an external investigation into the events that led to the shooting. In early November, RPS school board member Jonathan Young called the results of the report “as damning as a finding as possible.”
8News spoke with Young ahead of a November 20th meeting, where he says he will present a motion to the board to release the full report from the report, which was conducted by Sands Anderson law firm.
Young said he believes releasing the report will increase transparency and assist in creating safety and security measures in the future.
“The only way the only way that that conversation is going to be an informed conversation is if we release this report,” said Young. “This report, it needs sunlight. It needs to be scrutinized. It needs to be examined by all of our stakeholders.”
In a closed session on November 6th, Sands Anderson law firm shared their findings from an external investigation. Those results have yet to be shared with the public.
“I anticipate that some of my colleagues will argue to the contrary because the report is so very damning, will likely invite and invite litigation,” said Young.
An RPS spokesperson previously told 8News the school district plans on releasing an executive summary of the report in the coming weeks. The district says it still has not selected a date.
“I’m not interested in some whitewashed executive summary that will exclude all the relevant party’s name,” said Young.
Young says the executive summary could exclude names, interviews, and specific details that show what led up to the mass shooting. Instead, Young wants the findings to be shared in its entirety so that the community can come to an understanding of the information presented for themselves.
“So, if it comes out now, if it comes out in the trial, it’s going to come out,” said Young. “It seems to me it makes more sense for us to be transparent [and] acknowledge what we did was wrong.”
