More smoke tomorrow

Bullets started to fly at Huguenot High School's graduation ceremony around 5:15pm on Tuesday.

Just a short while before that, family and friends were hugging and rejoicing, not knowing the turmoil that would soon follow.

"Well, we were out there taking pictures. And then all of a sudden, a fight broke out on the side of us. And next thing you know, the young man was walking away and all of a sudden...somebody started shooting. And the other guy, he fell over."

Jackie Johnson describes the moment she heard the shots ring out and how her family was forced into immediate survival mode.

"My daughter...my daughter kind of pushed me down and got on top of me and my son. She puller her baby under her, and my son got on us to cover us and he got shot in the leg. We could have been killed. My head was bleeding really bad, and I was just going everywhere. I was so scared."

The family of the two victims killed in Tuesday’s mass shooting in Richmond addressed the media Wednesday, remembering their loved ones as two “loving” people with “hearts of gold.”

Datrell Glover, the aunt of 18-year-old Shawn Jackson, spoke in the parking lot of Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Richmond, thanking the city’s police department, first responders and people who have shared prayers and donations.

Jackson and his stepfather, 36-year-old Lorenzo Smith, were both killed in a mass shooting outside the city’s Altria Theater not long after Jackson walked the stage at the theater during Huguenot High School’s graduation.

“Something that was so special and supposed to be a happy moment for all of us ended as a tragedy,” Glover, who is also Smith’s sister-in-law, said Wednesday evening.

With other mourners standing behind her, Glover remembered them both as “loving,” hard-working people with “hearts of gold.”

Glover said that Jackson loved music and had a smile that could light up a whole room. He wanted to be a music producer one day but sadly, that day will now never come.

“They said when he walked off the stage nothing but smiles, he had no idea his life was going to end that day,” Glover said.

Smith is remembered as a wonderful father who you could talk to about anything. He was also an Army veteran with a big love for food.

“If it’s a big plate on the table, you know, it’s Lorenzo’s…like he loved he loved to eat,” Glover said.

Glover also says the family loved to go on cruises together. The last time she saw Smith, they were all talking about their next trip.

“If I knew that he was going to be gone, I would have hugged him a little longer,” Glover said.

The shooting left several others hurt, including five who were also shot. A suspect was arraigned Wednesday morning on two counts of second-degree murder.

As the family remembers their loved ones, they are begging anyone with information to come forward.

Glover also claimed that there was another shooting suspect, pleading with them to turn themselves in to the police. A Richmond police spokeswoman clarified that police are not looking for a second shooter, but that it “remains an open and fluid investigation.”

A prayer vigil has been scheduled for Sunday, June 11 at 4 p.m. in Monroe Park.

The family of the two victims killed in Tuesday’s mass shooting in Richmond addressed the media Wednesday, remembering their loved ones as two “loving” people with “hearts of gold.”

Just hours after the shooting, Democrats renewed their call for stricter gun laws in Virginia.

However, with Governor Glenn Youngkin in office, that appears unlikely.

Democratic State Senator Ghazala Hashmi says despite Richmond Police confirming handguns were use in the shooting.

Virginia needs stricter laws prohibiting access to military-style weapons.

In addition, she says investigating in violence intervention programs have been proven to work to bring down gun violence.

Meanwhile just hours after the shooting, Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears said guns are not the problem.

"This is not about law-abiding gun owners. This is about gangs. This is about even if you took all the guns off the street from law abiding citizens, the others who mean harm, who mean to kill in mayhem, they are going to have the guns."

There are multiple injures and the SWAT Team is on the scene. Roads are blocked off and traffic surrounding the area is heavy. Anyone nearby should avoid the area. Stay with 8news online and on-air as this story develops.

Five years ago to the day, a stolen armored military vehicle led police on a slow pursuit through Richmond.

Around 7:50 p.m. on Tuesday, June 5, 2018, Joshua Yabut --a then-29-year-old soldier -- drove an M577 armored personnel carrier from Fort Pickett in Nottoway County and into the streets of Richmond.

The Richmond City School Board held its first reading and vote on new names for four schools as the city continues to remove ties to the Confederacy. However, the first vote to change the schools’ names failed during the Monday, June 5 meeting.

Earlier this year, Richmond Public schools added George Wythe High School to the list of schools being renamed in order to remove names of people or symbols that represent racist ideologies, including those who served in the Confederate army or owned slaves.

https://www.wric.com/news/local-news/richmond/time-for-a-change-richmond-school-board-votes-on-new-names-for-some-schools/

After a year plagued with violent crime, Hopewell is looking to see if a group violence intervention program offers a glimmer of hope.

Project Safe, Alive and Free (SAF) — spearheaded by Richmond-based rehabilitation center Real Life — launched on June 1. The center is working with Hopewell police and other city and state partners to reduce violent crime in Hopewell.

For the effort, Real Life worked with the police department to compile a list of people who they believe are likely to shoot or be shot.

“This is intervention. The goal is actually to decrease arrests,” Sarah Scarbrough, Real Life’s director, said.

The list has about 30 people on it so far.

“The police involvement is to know the who, what, when and how to prevent and reduce gun violence in the city,” said Hopewell’s interim police chief Gregory Taylor.

Taylor said they used the help of investigators, crime analysts and school resource officers to consider people who were previously involved in gun violence and criminal activity.

Maurice Washington, a violence prevention coordinator for Project SAF, said the ages of the people on the list range from 14 to 28 years old.

“Several of my friends have been murdered and I’ve been around a lot of different shootings my whole life,” Washington said. “I’ve seen a lot of people get shot and been involved in different things myself, so I see this is something that can actually help people.”

Hopewell saw a 70% spike in violent crime in 2022. Real Life said its goal is to reduce the number of shootings in Hopewell by half, compared to last year’s number, by September.

Chesterfield police are looking for the vandals responsible for damaging the property of a youth athletic league twice in a month.

A new law in Virginia could allow families to be awarded a posthumous diploma for their late student.

Delegate Dawn Adams (D-Richmond) introduced a measure allowing high school seniors who’ve died before their graduation to still receive a diploma.

The bill was signed into law this year, requiring the Board of Education to waive certain graduation requirements when it takes effect on July 1. The new law will allow parents to request a posthumous diploma if the student was in good standing before graduation.

A new law in Virginia could allow families to be awarded a posthumous diploma for their late student.

Delegate Dawn Adams (D-Richmond) introduced a measure allowing high school seniors who’ve died before their graduation to still receive a diploma.

The bill was signed into law this year, requiring the Board of Education to waive certain graduation requirements when it takes effect on July 1. The new law will allow parents to request a posthumous diploma if the student was in good standing before graduation.

(Made on Lumen5)

As the opioid epidemic continued to spiral out of control, fentanyl took a record number of lives in overdoses across Virginia.

In a quarterly report published by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), drug overdoses remain the leading cause of unnatural death in Virginia — more than gun-related and motor vehicle-related deaths combined.

https://www.wric.com/news/virginia-news/what-is-the-likelihood-of-dying-from-fentanyl-virginia-quarterly-report-paints-grim-picture/