<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">Two people were killed and five injured Tuesday during a shooting near a high school graduation in the US state of Virginia, police said, the latest in an epidemic of mass shootings plaguing the country.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The shooting took place around 5 pm (2100 GMT) outside a theater in the state capital of Richmond, where students from a local high school were celebrating their graduation, Richmond interim police chief Rick Edwards told reporters.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The deceased included an 18-year-old graduate and a 36-year-old man, he added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Of the five injured, one remained in critical condition.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"People scattered, it was very chaotic at the scene," Edwards said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A nineteen-year-old suspect fled the scene, but was soon arrested and is to be charged with second-degree murder, Edwards said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The official did not name a possible motive for the crime, but said the suspect knew at least one of the victims.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Several handguns were recovered from the scene.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With more firearms than inhabitants, the United States has the highest rate of gun deaths of any developed country -- 49,000 in 2021, up from 45,000 the year before. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>