Only On 8: Huguenot graduation day shooter speaks from behind bars
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RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Amari Pollard, the shooter convicted in connection with Huguenot High School's deadly graduation shooting, spoke exclusively with 8News as he continues his efforts to appeal his guilty plea despite a dismissal in the court of appeals.
On June 6, 2023, seven people were shot and several others were injured in Richmond's Monroe Park following Huguenot High School's graduation ceremony. Eighteen-year-old graduate Shawn Jackson and his stepfather, Lorenzo Smith, both died.
While there are several points of view of what happened that day, there are two accounts we will never hear from because they are no longer living: Jackson's and Smith's.
Pollard, who was 19 at the time of the shooting, pleaded guilty to Jackson's first-degree murder. Now 21 years old, he is currently being held at Nottoway Correctional Center, serving a 25-year sentence.
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Recently, he spoke exclusively with 8News to share what he remembered.
Amari Pollard [left] and Shawn Jackson [right].
“I felt like everybody else was telling my story -- I mean, people who kept up with the trial, they can see what I said at the trial ... but it's different hearing it come from my voice," Pollard said.
His account of what happened that day follows the release of the final review of the shooting, as conducted by the Richmond Police Department.
During a phone interview, Pollard said he met Jackson at a young age. He says the two grew apart after a friend they both knew was killed.
Despite this, Pollard said he never intended to harm Jackson or anyone else following the graduation. Instead, he said he just attended the ceremony to see his cousin graduate.
After seeing his family member walk across the stage, Pollard said he went to the car to wait for the ceremony to end.
Amari Pollard retrieving a gun from his car on June 6, 2023. (Photo: FBI)
Amari Pollard returning from retrieving a gun from his car on June 6, 2023. (Photo: FBI)
“But I also retrieved my gun once I got in the car -- just for safety precautions," Pollard said.
According to police, Pollard grabbed a 9mm handgun before walking back to where graduates and families were exiting the Altria Theater.
Pollard said he was verbally threatened before he saw one of Jackson's friends reach in a backpack.
“And then I ran -- somebody grabbed me," Pollard said. "I want to say Shawn grabbed me. And, he basically said, 'shoot him' ... so then that's when everything happened."
While referencing FBI surveillance video, prosecutors said no one grabbed Pollard. The prosecution also referenced Pollard's initial interview with police, where he said Jackson threatened to "crush him," not shoot him.
Still from FBI footage of the Huguenot High School graduation shooting, showing the seconds leading up to gunfire. (Photo: FBI)
Pollard told 8News he was afraid and that he fired his weapon to protect himself and his family.
“I felt like I was boxed in, basically, and there was nothing else I could do," he said.
His attorneys also argued his self defense claim but that argument did not hold up during his jury trial leading to his guilty plea for first degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
In April 2024, Pollard tried to take back his guilty plea. In the end that motion was denied. Pollards' attorneys later tried to appeal that decision. 8News learned that, according to court records, this initial attempt was dismissed.
Pollard said that, if there was anything he could have done differently that day, it would be to stay in the car after the graduation.
"Instead of just going back out there, knowing that potentially something could happen ... seeing how everything ended up, how two deaths happened and five other people got shot, even though I was only responsible for one of them," he said. "It affected everybody else that was out there."
Photos of the Jackson-Smith family, including Tameeka Jackson-Smith, Lorenzo Smith and Shawn Jackson. (Photos: Tameeka Jackson-Smith)
Photos of the Jackson-Smith family, including Tameeka Jackson-Smith, Lorenzo Smith and Shawn Jackson. (Photos: Tameeka Jackson-Smith)
Photos of the Jackson-Smith family, including Tameeka Jackson-Smith, Lorenzo Smith and Shawn Jackson. (Photos: Tameeka Jackson-Smith)
Photos of the Jackson-Smith family, including Tameeka Jackson-Smith, Lorenzo Smith and Shawn Jackson. (Photos: Tameeka Jackson-Smith)
Photos of the Jackson-Smith family, including Tameeka Jackson-Smith, Lorenzo Smith and Shawn Jackson. (Photos: Tameeka Jackson-Smith)
One of those impacted is Tameeka Jackson-Smith, the wife and mother of the two victims. While we will never have the opportunity to speak with Jackson or Smith, she shared her perspective with 8News.
"This was supposed to be a day that was filled with happy memories, but instead, on this day, my son and my husband was murdered," Jackson-Smith said.
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She said her family never came to the Altria Theater to be aggressive. They attended the ceremony to celebrate Jackson's achievements.
“Y’all were going to make Shawn seem like he was the aggressor that day, and the only thing he did was walk away and just want to enjoy his day -- and you took it from him," Jackson-Smith said. "He worked hard to get that diploma. That’s what people don’t realize.”
She also shared her thoughts on the dismissal of Pollard's appeal.
“I don't know who he was scared on that day, but it couldn't have been Shawn, because he walked away from you," Jackson-Smith said.
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In its final review, Richmond Police said investigators never found the gun matching the bullets that killed Smith. Detectives did confirm that it wasn't Pollard who shot him.
For all of 8News' coverage on this tragic mass shooting and its aftermath, click here.
