VCU safety ambassador honored for role in aftermath of deadly Huguenot High School graduation shooting
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- For the first time, we're hearing from a VCU Police Safety Ambassador who was recently honored for her role in the aftermath of the deadly shooting outside Huguenot High School's graduation back in 2023. The last time 8News reporter Sierra Krug saw Denise Smith was when the safety ambassador testified in court earlier this year during Amari Pollard's jury trial. However, on Wednesday, Dec. 11, Smith sat down to share her story. "405 … I've got the gun over here on Main Street Deck," Those were the words Denise Smith shouted on her VCU Police Safety Ambassador radio as she awaited backup. "Stay right here!" This all transpired on June 6, 2023, at a parking garage near Monroe Park. Smith was stationed there to help smooth the flow of traffic following a major high school graduation ceremony. That afternoon, Smith heard the call go out for a shooting outside the ceremony. She knew the area was on lockdown, but she didn't know the shooter was in her arms. "I'm sorry ... I'm done for," then-19-year-old Amari Pollard cried out to Smith, just minutes after fatally shooting graduate Shawn Jackson. In February 2024, Smith -- Pollard's first point of contact after the tragedy -- testified prior to Pollard's abrupt guilty plea. Now, she's facing the memories publicly for the first time. "I thought he was just an average citizen running through the parking deck trying to get into the parking deck safely," Smith recalled. "He was very flustered, scared. And so I just walked up to him. And the biggest thing he asked me is he was worried his grandma was going to get shot." FBI-compiled security footage showed Pollard in a visible state of panic during his interaction with Smith. He appeared to point the gun at his head, verbally contemplated running and told the safety ambassador that he feared for his life. Smith has since earned a valor award for her quick thinking in that moment. The unarmed ambassador acted swiftly. In the parking garage security footage, she can be seen successfully de-escalating the situation -- going back and forth with Pollard and urging him to put the gun down and leave it on the floor. "Walk away," she directed. "Walk away." Smith disarmed Pollard, secured the weapon and managed to keep the man from leaving the space all while she, herself, remained unarmed. "When he walked up to me, I didn't care who he was," Smith reflected. "It was just … I was worried about getting him safe. I wouldn't change anything that I did either." She said she had no choice but to remain calm. and that she had to, essentially, mask her own fear in order to do her job. Again, Pollard ultimately pleaded guilty and is actively serving a 25-year sentence behind bars. However, prior to accepting that plea, he and his legal team argued self-defense throughout nearly five full days of trial this past February. His team has since tried to take back the plea, Pollard's lawyers admitting they felt they misguided him by encouraging him to accept the deal, but a judge denied that motion. Smith was one of the key witnesses called to the stand. She answered questions from both sides back in February. Almost 10 months later, 8News asked Smith about one of her responses during the trial "I remember you saying how you genuinely felt like he was scared in the moment. Do you still stand by that?" 8News asked. To which Smith replied, "I do."
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RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- For the first time, we're hearing from a VCU Police Safety Ambassador who was recently honored for her role in the aftermath of the deadly shooting outside Huguenot High School's graduation back in 2023.
The last time 8News reporter Sierra Krug saw Denise Smith was when the safety ambassador testified in court earlier this year during Amari Pollard's jury trial. However, on Wednesday, Dec. 11, Smith sat down to share her story.
"405 … I've got the gun over here on Main Street Deck," Those were the words Denise Smith shouted on her VCU Police Safety Ambassador radio as she awaited backup. "Stay right here!"
This all transpired on June 6, 2023, at a parking garage near Monroe Park. Smith was stationed there to help smooth the flow of traffic following a major high school graduation ceremony.
That afternoon, Smith heard the call go out for a shooting outside the ceremony. She knew the area was on lockdown, but she didn't know the shooter was in her arms.
"I'm sorry ... I'm done for," then-19-year-old Amari Pollard cried out to Smith, just minutes after fatally shooting graduate Shawn Jackson.
In February 2024, Smith -- Pollard's first point of contact after the tragedy -- testified prior to Pollard's abrupt guilty plea. Now, she's facing the memories publicly for the first time.
"I thought he was just an average citizen running through the parking deck trying to get into the parking deck safely," Smith recalled. "He was very flustered, scared. And so I just walked up to him. And the biggest thing he asked me is he was worried his grandma was going to get shot."
FBI-compiled security footage showed Pollard in a visible state of panic during his interaction with Smith. He appeared to point the gun at his head, verbally contemplated running and told the safety ambassador that he feared for his life.
Smith has since earned a valor award for her quick thinking in that moment. The unarmed ambassador acted swiftly. In the parking garage security footage, she can be seen successfully de-escalating the situation -- going back and forth with Pollard and urging him to put the gun down and leave it on the floor.
"Walk away," she directed. "Walk away."
Smith disarmed Pollard, secured the weapon and managed to keep the man from leaving the space all while she, herself, remained unarmed.
"When he walked up to me, I didn't care who he was," Smith reflected. "It was just … I was worried about getting him safe. I wouldn't change anything that I did either."
She said she had no choice but to remain calm. and that she had to, essentially, mask her own fear in order to do her job.
Again, Pollard ultimately pleaded guilty and is actively serving a 25-year sentence behind bars. However, prior to accepting that plea, he and his legal team argued self-defense throughout nearly five full days of trial this past February. His team has since tried to take back the plea, Pollard's lawyers admitting they felt they misguided him by encouraging him to accept the deal, but a judge denied that motion.
Smith was one of the key witnesses called to the stand. She answered questions from both sides back in February. Almost 10 months later, 8News asked Smith about one of her responses during the trial
"I remember you saying how you genuinely felt like he was scared in the moment. Do you still stand by that?" 8News asked. To which Smith replied, "I do."
