Question remain following mass shooting outside Altria Theater

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - As memorials grow outside Huguenot High School and Altria Theater, questions remain about exactly how a mass shooting unfolded following Tuesday’s graduation ceremony.

“I think the public might be asking, why second-degree? Why not first-degree?” said NBC12 Legal Analyst Steve Benjamin.

Another unanswered question, how did the suspect in the case, 19-year-old Amari Pollard, obtain the handgun police say he used to carry out the carnage. Under Virginia law, he wasn’t legally allowed to have it.

Pollard is charged with second-degree murder in connection with the deaths of 18-year-old Shawn Jackson and 36-year-old Renzo Smith.

“If multiple shots were fired, then the police need to determine were they all from one shooter, or multiple shooters or people shooting at each other, they need to get as much information as they can from interviews and from any available videos,” Benjamin said.

Benjamin says the timing of events will matter.

Police are currently conducting ballistics work to determine how many shots were fired and if only one gun was used. Behind the scenes, investigators are also pouring over videos that have been coming in from those in and around Monroe Park at the time of the shooting.

With police saying this was an ongoing dispute, several people close to the investigation tell NBC12 they believe what unfolded was gang-related and are concerned about potential retaliation. However, when pressed Thursday, police said the same thing they’ve been saying: that it’s not, at this point.

Seven people in total were shot; two died, and the other five are recovering.

“We don’t oftentimes know what goes on in our home. So to the parents out there, I say this, please check your children, check their social media, check their bedroom,” said Charles Willis, United Communities Against Crime.

Willis says that if there are any takeaways from this, parents need to know what’s going on with their kids.

“If you have to take the doors off your children’s bedroom, they don’t own nothing,” Willis said. “Take the doors off; take them off the hinges.”

A planned vigil will take place Sunday, June 11, at 4 p.m. in Abner Clay Park, located at 200 W Clay Street.

Attendees are encouraged to wear colors red, black and white.

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