Va. police make arrests, seize guns after tip about a July 4 mass shooting

By Denise Lavoie, AP Lawful Affairs Writer
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RICHMOND, Va. — Police in Richmond, Virginia, reported Wednesday that they thwarted a planned July 4 mass shooting after receiving a suggestion that led to the arrest of two men and the seizure of multiple guns — an announcement that came just two times just after a lethal mass shooting on the holiday in a Chicago suburb.

A “hero citizen” overheard a conversation indicating there was an assault getting planned on the city’s common Independence Working day celebration and named police to report it, Police Chief Gerald Smith said at a news meeting.

Law enforcement initiated an investigation, together with the U.S. Office of Homeland Security and FBI, which led to the arrests of two gentlemen on rates of becoming a non-U.S. citizen in possession of a firearm. Extra fees are probable, Smith stated.

Officers seized two assault rifles, a handgun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition from a residence in which the firearms and “related product” ended up in basic check out, Smith stated.

The two gentlemen were being currently being held with no bond at a nearby jail, the chief mentioned.

The evident thwarted plot was planned for the similar working day that a gunman opened hearth from a rooftop all through a Fourth of July parade in the affluent Chicago suburb of Highland Park, killing seven folks and injuring more than three dozen.

Robert E. Crimo III was charged with seven counts of murder Tuesday. The taking pictures sent hundreds of men and women fleeing in fear and established off an hourslong manhunt. Authorities have not yet identified a motive in that taking pictures.

Following: John S. Hollywood on RAND’s Mass Assaults Defense Toolkit