Two Men Shot Near Virginia Union University During Homecoming Weekend in Richmond, Virginia
RICHMOND, Virginia — Two adult men were shot and wounded near the Virginia Union University campus on the evening of Saturday, October 24, as the historically Black university in Richmond, Virginia, was celebrating its homecoming weekend. Richmond police said officers responded at about 8:30 p.m. to the 1500 block of North Lombardy Street, by the campus, after reports of gunfire. Both men were injured but neither wound was life-threatening.
Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said investigators believe the shooting grew out of an altercation near Henderson Hall, on campus, that escalated into gunfire. Large crowds of students, alumni and visitors were in the area for homecoming events, and many people fled when the shots rang out.
Because officers were already stationed on campus for the homecoming celebrations, police said they reached the scene within about a minute. Officers found one wounded man at the scene and took him to a hospital; a second man later arrived at a hospital on his own with a gunshot wound. Both were reported to have non-life-threatening injuries.
As of Sunday, October 25, police had announced no arrests and had not confirmed a motive. The two men have not been publicly identified, and the investigation is continuing. Virginia Union University is a private, historically Black university in Richmond; the shooting came at the peak of its homecoming week festivities.
It was the second shooting around the campus within the homecoming week: according to local media reports, a man was shot late on October 20 in a parking lot near the Huntley Building on campus and was treated for non-life-threatening injuries, prompting a temporary campus lockdown. Police have not said whether the two incidents are connected.
Another historically Black university also saw its homecoming marred by gunfire the same weekend: 12 people were injured in a shooting on Florida A&M University's homecoming night in Tallahassee, Florida.
Source: GSM·USA
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 弗吉尼亚联合大学校园内的 Pickford Hall（资料图）。图片来源：Morgan Riley / Wikimedia Commons，CC BY 3.0。Pickford Hall on the Virginia Union University campus (file photo). Photo: Morgan Riley / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
