‘I fainted’: Violent Sunday leaves 7 shot, one dead across Richmond

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Seven people were shot in Richmond on Sunday in two separate incidents, police say, leaving one victim dead and two others still fighting for their lives.

The first shooting happened in the early morning hours of Sunday, Aug. 17 in the Southwood neighborhood. The Richmond Police Department said four people were shot. One of the victims died, while two others remain in the hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Later that same day, officers responded to a second shooting on East 11th Street, outside of the Croaker's Spot restaurant in Manchester.

"It was very heart-wrenching for me,” said Croaker's Spot owner, Sherita McGowan, who was out of town when she got the call. “I fainted … I was with a bunch of friends and I just passed out. I just started asking, 'Is my staff okay? Did anyone get hurt? Were they customers?'”

Police said two men and one woman were found with gunshot wounds around 7 p.m. on 11th Street, just outside the restaurant. McGowan believes some of the victims had just left her business.

“My heart goes out to them,” she said. “You shouldn’t go and have a nice dinner somewhere and then have to worry about being injured, or shot, or killed, when you’re leaving just to go to your car.”

United Communities Against Crime community organizer Charles Willis said the shootings add to ongoing fears in Southwood, where a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid in July left many families unsettled.

“They’re already running scared about the fact that they believe that ICE is coming out,” Willis said. “There’s so many families … but then to have tragedies like that within the community is very sad.”

Willis said the violence is a call to action.

“We as a community need to do something about it,” he said. “We don’t need to let this one slip, not just another time.”

Croaker's Spot was closed on Monday, Aug. 18, but it will reopen on Tuesday, Aug. 19.

Police are asking anyone with information about either shooting to contact investigators.