Two dead, 5 injured in US school graduation shooting

An 18-year-old graduate and a 36-year-old man have been killed at a graduation ceremony for students who attended Huguenot High School, in Virginia.

Police have cordoned off a large area of the park where the gunman opened fire

Two people were killed and five injured during a shooting near a high school graduation in the US state of Virginia on Tuesday.

The shooting took place around 5pm outside a theatre in the state capital of Richmond, where students from Huguenot High School were celebrating their graduation.

The deceased included an 18-year-old graduate and a 36-year-old man. Of the five injured, one remains in critical condition.

Police have cordoned off a large area of the park where the gunman opened fire

“People scattered, it was very chaotic at the scene,” Richmond interim police chief Rick Edwards told reporters.

A nineteen-year-old suspect fled the scene, but was soon arrested and is to be charged with second-degree murder, Edwards said.

The official did not name a possible motive for the crime, but said the suspect knew at least one of the victims.

Several handguns were recovered from the scene.

With more firearms than inhabitants, the United States has the highest rate of gun deaths of any developed country -- 49,000 in 2021, up from 45,000 the year before