3 Men Shot, One Critically Injured, in Two Separate Shooting Sunday

Three young men were injured in two separate shootings that occurred less than an hour apart on Sunday in Richmond, according to a police lieutenant. Officers responding to an unrelated incident on 15th Street heard two volleys of gunfire, approximately nine shots, fired around 8:35 p.m., Richmond police Lt. Andre Hill said.

Hill said the officers responded to the 300 block of Marina Way South and found a man who appeared to be in his early 20s suffering from a gunshot wound to his lower right leg. The young man refused to cooperate with the officers and had his mother drive him to the hospital, Hill said. As officers were investigating the shooting, Hill said a second young man in his early 20s arrived at the hospital with a gunshot wound to his right hand. Both are expected to survive, Hill said. Detectives believe they were shot in the same location, but Hill said the second victim also refused to cooperate with investigators.

While officers were searching for suspects, Hill said police found several bullet casings and other evidence just north of a house in the 300 block of South 13th Street. Officers also found an assault rifle in the backyard of a home in the 100 block of South Seventh Street, Hill said. Just under an hour later, around 9:30 p.m., officers responded to a ShotSpotter activation in the 900 block of Eighth Street, Hill said. Officers arrived to find a young man in his early 20s with a gunshot wound to the head, Hill said. He was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition and remained in critical condition this morning, Hill said.

No suspects have been identified and no arrests have been made as of this morning, Hill said. Hill said detectives have not yet determined whether the two shootings are related.

“We don’t know if they’re related or retaliatory or not,” Hill said. “But, it’s just too coincidental.”

The shootings follow a string of gun violence in Richmond during the past month. Vallejo resident Fontino Hardy Jr., 29, was killed and four others, including a 17-year-old boy, were wounded in two separate shootings on July 14 that were less than two hours apart. Police arrested two people on July 19 in connection with two shootings on July 18 and July 19, roughly 12 hours apart, which injured three people.

The suspects also allegedly shot at a witness in the vicinity of police officers who were investigating an unrelated burglary. Although the city has seen a dramatic reduction in murders over the past several years, including a three-decade low of 11 murders in 2014, the first half of 2015 has already seen 10 homicides, according to data provided by Richmond police.

By Bay City News