Virginia, US, school shooting kills 2, injures 5
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A school shooting that took place during a high graduation ceremony in Virginia resulted in several casualties among students and faculty members.
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Law enforcement officers investigate the scene after a gunman opened fire in a park in Richmond, Virginia, US June 6, 2023 (Social media via Reuters)
A school shooting in Virginia, the United States, claimed Tuesday the lives of two people and wounded five others, police have said, adding to the death toll of mass shootings that have become commonplace in the country.
Reportedly, the shooting took place at around 5 pm during a high school graduation ceremony outside a theater in the state capital of Richmond, Richmond interim police chief Rick Edwards told reporters.
An 18-year-old fresh graduate and a 36-year-old man are among those killed in the incident, Edwards revealed.
Among those wounded, one is in critical condition while the remaining four are in stable condition.
The Police chief further revealed that one 19-year-old suspect fled the scene before being arrested soon. The suspect is set to be charged with second-degree murder.
There is no official motive for the crime, though the official revealed that the suspect knew at least one of the victims.
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The official also said that several handguns were recovered from the scene.
This comes days after a mass shooting shook the US city of Chicago, killing one woman and wounding six others.
The city's deputy police chief told reporters that around 1:00 am, the police department responded to reports of a shooting incident in the Austin neighborhood.
The crime took place during a ceremonial gathering in tribute to a man who died in a car accident almost four years ago.
In a similar vein to Tuesday's incidents, The Washington Post revealed earlier that 2022 was the most violent year for school, with a total of 46 reported throughout the year.
The rise in gun deaths among children and teens is part of a broader recent increase in firearm deaths among Americans overall. In 2021, there were 48,830 gun deaths among Americans of all ages – by far the highest yearly total on record and up 23% from the 39,707 recorded in 2019, before the pandemic.
Chec out: Deadliest US mass shootings in 2023 so far
The debate on banning guns in the US was given a lot of impetus in May 2022, when a string of mass shootings that left dozens dead culminated in Congress discussing a ban on assault rifles.
The US House of Representatives passed in July 2022 a bill that stipulates banning assault weapons, marking a first in decades in light of a mass shooting epidemic in the country.
The anti-gun legislation was approved by 217 House members and opposed by 213 in the body controlled by a Democratic party majority.
The United States is deeply divided about reforming gun laws despite the aforementioned erratic episode of gun violence. The bill passed the House floor with the support of two Republicans who joined efforts with their Democratic counterparts and backed the measure.
The bill passing marked the first ban on assault rifles since 1994 when Congress passed a 10-year ban on weapons and certain high-capacity magazines. Lawmakers, however, let the ban expire in 2004, sending the sales of arms nationwide skyrocketing.
The bill bans the sale, import, manufacture, or transfer of certain semi-automatic rifles, which have long been used in the United States in mass shootings, especially over mid-2022, such as in Buffalo, New York, Uvalde, Texas, and Highland Park, Illinois.
Gunmakers in the United States have seen a tremendous hike in earnings from their sales of AR-15-style rifles, a US House Oversight Committee probe revealed last year while lawmakers and the public call for holding the industry accountable for crimes committed using their products.
