After the graduation ceremony of the high school, seven people were shot in Virginia

Seven people were shot when shots in front of a theater in Virginia fell on Tuesday, in which a high school ceremony had recently come to an end, which led to the fact that those present fled, cried and clasped their children, said, said authorities and witnesses.

Two suspects were arrested after the shootout near Virginia Commonwealth University in the city center of Richmond, said the provisional police chief of Richmond, Rick Edwards, at a press conference.

officers in the theater heard shots at around 5.15 p.m. local time and informed the police stationed outside by radio, who found several victims, said Mr. Edwards.

The police did not assume that there was a persistent danger to the community. The identities of the detained and injured were not announced immediately.

"We will do everything we can to put the people involved in court." That shouldn't happen anywhere, "said Levar Stoney, Mayor of Richmond.

In addition to the seven people injured by shots, at least two more people arrived in local hospitals with other firefights, said Mr. Edwards.

The Richmond Public Schools said in a message on their website that the shootout took place in Monroe Park, which is opposite the theater and next to the college campus, after a final ceremony of the Huguenot High School.

Jonathan Young, member of the school board, informed the television station WWBT in Richmond that graduates and other visitors left the theater when they heard about 20 shots in a quick episode.

"As expected, the hundreds of people to flee from the shots and return to the building," said Mr. Young. "There was a mass panic."

When he heard the shots and then the sirens, the 69-year-old neighbor John Willard entered the balcony of his apartment on the 18th floor to see what happened below. He saw students fled in their final outfits and hugged their children.

"In front of the apartment block next to our stand a poor woman who cried and cried," said Mr. Willard and added that the scene made him deeply sad.

Edythe Payne helped her daughter to sell flowers outside the theater to the students when they left the ceremony. She told Richmond Times dispatch that the shootout triggered a panic on the nearby Main Street, which was full of people at this point.

"I felt bad because some older people were at the closing ceremony and were thrown to the ground," said Ms. Payne.

The school district announced that another graduation ceremony that was to take place later on Tuesday was canceled "from great caution" and that the schools would remain closed on Wednesday.