Early Saturday shooting occurred on VCU’s campus

Ryan Murphy
News Editor

Shots were fired early Saturday morning on West Broad Street, near the intersection of Shafer and Broad streets.

No one was injured and police apprehended the suspects soon after the incident, but no alert was sent to students or posted on the VCU alerts web page according to VCU Police Chief Venuti.

“Both Richmond police and VCU police were in the process of dispersing a crowd (from Club Mansion on North Harrison) … some of the crowd headed east on Broad,” Venuti said. That’s when, according to the police chief, shots were fired in the vicinity of Shafer and West Broad streets sometime between 2 and 3 a.m. Police were unable to ascertain a motive, and at the time of printing, there were no media or police reports available detailing the incident or arrests.

Shots were fired on the 800 block of West Broad Street. Suspects were apprehended
on the 700 block of West Grace Street. VCU’s “core campus” extends to West Marshall
Street in the north, and for the most part, Madison and Harrison streets in the
east and west, respectively.

Daniel Namkoong, a member of the VCU Student Government Association, didn’t realize it was a gunshot while in line at Qdoba, but said it became obvious something was going on when he “saw squad cars zooming by.”

“I was just surprised that we didn’t get an email,” Namkoong said, referring to the Jeanne Clery Act, which governs the release of information for crimes on university campuses. “I felt, as students, we have the right to know.”

The Clery Act says that timely alerts must go out for crimes “(1) on campus, (2) on public property within or immediately adjacent to the campus, and (3) in or on noncampus buildings or property that your institution owns or controls,” according to the U.S. Department of Education’s Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting.

The reported locations of the shots and the arrests, which occurred during a traffic stop on the 700 block of West Grace Street, are both within what the VCU Police Department defines as Monroe Park’s “core campus.”

The subjects were apprehended quickly so no alert was posted, Venuti said.

Police charged Sean Massey with carrying a concealed weapon and Keion Barsdale was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, possession of a firearm by a minor and possession of marijuana.

Cody Clark, a manager at Qdoba was working at the register when the incident occurred.

“A bunch of people were running around outside,” Clark said. “Everyone in the lobby dropped to the floor (when they heard the shots).”

Qdoba is one of a number of restaurants on the 800 block of W. Broad Street that are popular with students on the weekends. Some of them, like Qdoba, are open as late as 3 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

Just a block down Shafer Street from where the shooting occurred sits the West Grace South student dorm complex.

Around 2:30 that morning, fire alarms sounded inside the dorm, forcing any of the 459 students who were in the dorm out on the sidewalk.

“All of a sudden we heard sounds like flat tires,” said Tyra McMillian, a resident of West Grace South.

“We heard another one and then we saw people running from the Barnes and Noble area.”

McMillian said that students lined up to return to their apartments rushed the doors when they heard the shots and saw the crowd running down Shafer Street.

The CT News Report includes a video story covering the Saturday morning shooting.

4 Comments

  1. I have a small question/calrification: I think when the police refer to incidents, “shooting” tends to indicate that someone was shot. “the Saturday morning shooting” sounds like somebody got it, you know? This is a “shots fired”, I believe.

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