RICHMOND, Va. -- Two civilians were wounded in Thursday’s Greyhound Bus Stationshooting off the Boulevard that left a Virginia State Trooper and the shooting suspect dead.
A 41-year-old woman suffered non-life threatening injuries and is receiving treatment at VCU Medical Center for a gunshot wound to the calf after being caught in the bus station shooting crossfire.
CBS 6 spoke with the step mother and cousin of the 41-year-old shooting victim, whose name is not being released at this time per the families wishes.
The victim’s step mom, Rhoda Blocker, said her step daughter told her she saw a lot of activity going on at the bus station and she knew something was going to go down, but she didn’t know what.
“She went to run, next thing she knows she loses consciousness and falls to the ground, not realizing she had been shot,” Blocker said.
Rhoda Blocker, shooting victim's step mom
The victim’s cousin Afton Smith said she was in shock after receiving a phone call from her cousin Thursday afternoon. “I was literally in the nail shop watching the news about it breaking and she called me,” Smith said.
She said her cousin asked her if she had seen the coverage from the Greyhound bus station, and told her she was involved in the shootings.
“I thought she was playing, but then I heard her voice crackling,” Smith said. “I was like, wait a minute… what!”
Blocker said the situation put her in shock as well, “You gotta be kidding me, I couldn’t believe it.”
Afton Smith, shooting victim's cousin
They couldn’t believe what happened until they actually saw their family member in the hospital.
“She’s doing very well now, she in high spirits,” Blocker said. “Hopefully we can take her home tomorrow.”
Blocker said her step daughter was at the station, traveling to Maryland to visit family, but that trip will have to be put on hold. Blocker said her step daughter will undergo surgery Thursday night after the bullet went straight through her calf.
“Her mother has a bad heart and she was quite upset, so right now her mom’s OK, she calm, she knows her daughters fine and everything’s OK.”
Second civilian shooting victim
Binghamton University, a public college in New York, confirms the second civilian shot was a female student-athlete. Binghamton Athletics said a member of their track team suffered non-life threatening injuries while in route to a track meet at William and Mary.
The university says their campus has been in touch with the student’s parents and has arranged for counselors to be available to the student and her fellow student-athletes.
Greyhound Bus Station Shooting
Virginia State Police Superintendent W. Steven Flaherty confirms Trooper Chad Phillip Dermyer was killed as a result of multiple gunshot from the suspect in Thursday's Greyhound Bus Station shooting. Dermyer is survived by his wife and two kids.
A total of four people were shot Thursday including two civilians who suffered non-life threatening injuries and the suspect, who was killed by police.
State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller says the incident started around 2:45 p.m. after a State Trooper encountered a man in the station. While talking, the suspect pulled out a gun and shot the trooper multiple times.
Two nearby troopers on the scene returned fire. The male suspect, whose name is not being released at this time, was taken to the hospital where he later died.
