HANOVER COUNTY, Va. -- A teenager was pronounced dead after suffering a gunshot wound at a large party in Hanover County Saturday night, according to authorities.
Deputies were called to the 6000 block of McClellan Road and Agape Lane Saturday around 10:46 p.m. for a "parking complaint and a large party," according to Sgt. Steve Wills with the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office.
While the deputies were responding, Wills said another call came in related to a shooting.
Deputies arrived and located the teenager with a gunshot wound and began to render aid.
Hanover County Fire and EMS responded and pronounced the victim dead at the scene.
Crime Insider sources said the victim is a 16 year-old-boy. Those sources said the shooting stemmed from an argument.
Officials confirmed the victim was not a Hanover County resident and did not attend Hanover County Public Schools.
The news came as a shock to neighbor Matthew Thompson, who could see the home where the party happened through the woods in his backyard. He's lived in the area for about three years.
"It's super quiet, neighbors are great, we've got lots of kids up and down this street, playing all the time," Thompson said.
Thompson said high school parties happen in the area, but not like this, noting he saw roughly 40 teenagers running through the woods in his backyard after shots rang out.
“All of a sudden we heard some pretty loud pops, didn’t think it was fireworks. It sounded like gunshots. A couple seconds later, it got real chaotic. There was tons of kids running through the woods, the yards, people were screaming, police showed up and kind of shut the whole scene down," Thompson said. "It was quite frightening for a little bit, especially with all the people who were loose and running around, and you know we’ve got kids inside the house to watch out for, so it was pretty tense for a few minutes."
Police were on scene Sunday for at least 12 hours collecting evidence.
“I hate that my kids had to hear about this, luckily they weren’t up or didn’t see any of it last night, but we’ve had to explain why there’s police up and down the road all day and kind of use this as a teaching lesson, be smart," Thompson said.
Wills said investigators working to identify a suspect.
Anyone with information about the case is urged to call the Hanover County Sheriff’s Office at 804-365-6140 or the Metro Richmond Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000. Citizens can also download the “P3 Tips” app for their mobile devices to submit their tips. Both Crime Stoppers methods are anonymous.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
