Two people were killed and five were injured, one of them seriously, during a shooting near a school in the state of Virginia, in the eastern United States, after which a 19-year-old suspect was arrested, police reported. The incident occurred on Tuesday outside a theater in Richmond, the state capital, where students from a local school were celebrating their graduation, the city's acting police chief, Rick Edwards, told reporters. An 18-year-old graduate and a 36-year-old man died in the action, while of the five wounded, one remained in critical condition, he added. A 19-year-old suspect fled the scene, but was arrested shortly after and will be charged with second-degree murder, he added. The official did not mention a possible motive for the crime, but said the suspect knew at least one of the victims. "People scattered, it was very chaotic," Edwards described, the AFP news agency reported. He stated that several guns were recovered at the scene. The incident occurred at a time when the country is experiencing an epidemic of mass shootings, largely attributable to the indiscriminate use of weapons by the population, a situation that is a cause of concern for President Joe Biden. The United States has the highest death rate of all developed countries, 49,000 in 2021 according to the latest statistics, due to the uncontrolled use of firearms.