I’m not from Richmond, Virginia, but I’ve lived here for almost 2 years now. So when I see something like this, it makes me very sad for the city that I live in. Apparently, there was some sort of state trooper training exercise happening at the local Greyhound bus station, when some guy walked up and shot one of them in the chest. Both the officer and the suspect were killed. All the local news stations are broadcasting live from the scene of the crime, as well as the VCU Medical Center, where some victims were taken after the shooting.

Early reports say that 6 people were shot. I don’t have word yet on if the 2 who were originally listed as critical are the ones who died. It seems likely that they might be. As of yet, there is no motive for this attack. It looks like it might just have been a random attack on the police. The local NBC affiliate is saying that it is not terrorism related. Whatever the motive, this is one of the most brutal attacks you will hear about.

I live on the Southside of Richmond, so I’m not gonna drive over there and try to get any live reaction myself. Plus, I’m sure they have enough media on the scene already. In fact, the news is telling people that police are saying not to head to the area.

I’ll update this post as more info rolls in.

According to NBC’s Mike Valerio, there was a drug training exercise going on in the Greyhound station. The procedure was that after completion, the officers would go up and shake hands with the civilians present. When the deceased trooper went up to shake hands with the shooter, he pulled out a gun and shot him in the chest. He’s also reporting that the shooter was mentally disturbed. Well, I think that’s a safe bet. Non-mentally disturbed people don’t shoot cops in the chest for no reason.

 

UPDATE: Early media reports seem to have been inaccurate. It’s now being reported that the trooper who was shot in the chest is fighting for his life, but he is not dead.

A Virginia State Police trooper suffered life-threatening injuries when he was shot at Richmond’s Greyhound bus station Thursday afternoon by a man who was then fatally wounded as two troopers returned fire. Two civilians were injured in the gunfire that erupted about 2:45 p.m., a state police spokeswoman said.

 

UPDATE II: Unfortunately, it turns out the state trooper in question ended up succumbing to his injuries.