Two men have been arrested in connection to a mass shooting plot targeting Richmond, Virginia’s Fourth of July celebration, authorities said Wednesday. The arrests came after a July 1 phone call tipped off police and spurred an investigation.
“One phone call” saved an unknown number of lives over the holiday weekend, authorities said at a Wednesday afternoon press conference.
Police seized over 200 rounds of ammunition, two assault rifles and one handgun from an apartment where the men were living. Authorities also saw “related material” in plain view upon being let into the apartment without a warrant, police said.
“Their intent was to conduct a mass shooting,” Richmond Police Chief Gerald M. Smith said at a Wednesday afternoon press conference.
The caller, whose identity was not released, learned about the plot because they “overheard a conversation that there was a mass shooting being planned . . . at our Fourth of July celebration,” Smith said.
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The mass shooting plot was going to target Richmond’s Dogwood Dell Amphitheater, the site of the city’s fireworks display.
Smith said investigators also had concerns the plot could have targeted The Diamond, Richmond’s minor league baseball stadium, where the Flying Squirrels played against the Reading, Pennsylvania Fightin Phils…
