Mass shooting following Virginia High School graduation

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Seven people were shot following a high school graduation at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond on Tuesday, police said.

Two people are in custody, and there is no ongoing threat to the community following the incident at the university's Monroe Park campus, Richmond police said.

Among the shooting victims, three suffered life-threatening injuries and four non-life-threatening, police said.

Six others were injured in the aftermath of the shooting, including two who fell, one who was hit by a car, and three who were treated for anxiety, police said.

Multiple police agencies responded to the scene near the Altria Theater, which was scheduled to host several graduation ceremonies for Richmond Public Schools Tuesday.

A Richmond Public Schools official told ABC News the shooting took place in Monroe Park after the Huguenot High School graduation in the Altria Theater had ended.

Students in graduation gowns could be seen running from the scene amid the police response.

Thomas Jefferson High School's graduation ceremony scheduled for Tuesday night has been canceled, and all Richmond Public Schools will be closed on Wednesday "out of an abundance of caution," the school district said.

Seven people were shot, two fatally, when gunfire rang out Tuesday outside a downtown theater in Richmond, Virginia, where a high school graduation ceremony had just ended, causing hundreds of attendees to flee in panic, weep and clutch their children, authorities and witnesses said.

A 19-year-old suspect tried to escape on foot but was arrested and will be charged with two counts of second-degree murder, Interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said during a nighttime news conference at which he confirmed the two fatalities.

Edwards said one of the people who was killed was an 18-year-old male student who had just graduated, while the other was a 36-year-old man who was there for the graduation. Their names were not released, but police believe the suspect, who was not immediately identified, knew at least one of the victims.

Six people were brought to VCU Medical Center and their conditions ranged from serious to critical late Tuesday, VCU Health System spokesperson Mary Kate Brogan said.

Multiple handguns were recovered. Police initially said two suspects were detained, but Edwards said later that they determined one of them was not involved.

School board member Jonathan Young told Richmond TV station WWBT that graduates and other attendees were leaving the building when they heard about 20 gunshots in rapid succession.

“That prompted, as you would expect, hundreds of persons in an effort to flee the gunfire to return to the building,” Young said.