Two individuals, 18-year-old Shawn Jackson, 18, Lorenzo Smith, father of Shawn, both died in the shooting, which sent hundreds ducking for cover outside Altria Theater. Five others were wounded in the shooting.The suspected gunman, identified as Amari Pollard, 19, of Henrico, reportedly had “an ongoing dispute.”
“You can sometimes see a blinking red light of an incident like this occurring because the disputes start on social media, and they’re magnified,” Interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said. “Where you can be disrespected in a school setting, and maybe 30 people see it, it if it’s online, thousands of people see it and that’s how we can get to this point over what would typically be a trivial matter.”
Pollard went to his car to get a gun and then opened fire outside the theater.
“I wouldn’t say he was waiting for him. I think there was an interaction and then it appears that the suspect went to his car to retrieve the gun and then returned,” Edwards said.
