CHESTERFIELD, Va. (AP) – One young man was killed and 12 other young people were wounded — two critically — in graduation party shootings in Virginia and West Texas late Friday and early Saturday morning, officials said.
UPDATE: 2 dead, 17 others injured in weekend graduation party shootings in SC, Virginia and Texas
In Virginia, a 20-year-old man was fatally shot and seven other young people were injured after gunfire erupted during a graduation party in central Virginia, police said Saturday.
Two separate fights between attendees of the mostly outdoor party in Chester, Virginia, were reported shortly before police received a call about shots fired late Friday night, Chesterfield County Police Maj. Brad Badgerow said at a news conference.
UPDATE: 2 dead, 17 others injured in weekend graduation party shootings in SC, Virginia and Texas
Badgerow said officers had recovered more than 50 casings of four different calibers in the area of Stepney Road and Weybridge Road.
“Whether that means it was four people shooting – I can’t tell you that. But it looks like there were at least four different weapons that were fired,” he said.
The department said when officers arrived at the scene, they discovered 20-year-old Taborri J. Carter of Petersburg suffering from a gunshot wound. Officers rendered aid, but he died at the scene.
UPDATE: 2 dead, 17 others injured in weekend graduation party shootings in SC, Virginia and Texas
Five other shooting victims had already left the scene before police arrived, according to a news release that said their injuries appeared to be non-life-threatening.
Two other people were injured when they were struck by a vehicle as they fled the shooting, police said. Those injured ranged in age from 16 to 21 and were from Chesterfield or nearby localities. The party, which had been advertised on social media, drew about 50 to 100 people, Badgerow said.
Near El Paso in Texas, authorities say five teens were hospitalized, two in critical condition, after gunfire broke out at an overnight high school graduation party at a West Texas home.
Police in Socorro say the teens ranged in age from 16 to 18. Police Chief David Burton says the 1 a.m. Saturday shooting erupted when a fight broke out between two groups of teens.
Burton says as many as 100 people were at the party. Burton expressed confidence at a Saturday news conference that a suspect would be identified and arrested. Socorro is on the Mexican border near El Paso.
The Virginia party took place in a residential area of Chester, which is about 15 miles south of Richmond.
