Shooting at local restaurant

“He is recovering well and is in good spirits,” said Carena Ives, manager of the Jamaica House, in referring to the status of Monday’s shooting victim at the Jamaican eatery at 1215 W. Broad St.

“The isolated incident was between the gunman and the cashier,” Ives said, indicating the gunman and the cashier shared some history together. Police have ruled out robbery as a motive.

The gunman ran into the Jamaica House at lunchtime and fired at an employee working as a cashier. After Richmond City Police arrived at the scene, an ambulance rushed the victim to VCU Medical Center with life-threatening wounds, said Cynthia Price, spokesperson for the Richmond Police.

Police late Wednesday reported the gunman was still at large.

Because the shooting occurred near the Monroe Park Campus, two students later expressed their concern for campus safety.

Travis Lewis, who walks by the Jamaica House every day during his commute to the Monroe Park Campus from Chamberlayne Road, said he wants to feel safe going to and from classes.

“What really scares me is the shooting took place during the middle of the day where everyone was around to see,” he said.

Whitney Brown, a Stuart C. Siegel Center employee, said two police officers came running into the Siegel Center shortly after the shooting to ask her if she had seen anything.

“I didn’t expect it at all. I didn’t even hear anything,” she said.

Amber Bailey passes by the Jamaica House at least twice a week during lunchtime on her way to the Siegel Center gym.

“If the shootings are happening during broad daylight, what could happen at dark?” she asked. “I definitely want to feel safe when I am walking around campus.”

Price said Richmond Police are looking for a thinly built black male wearing a multicolored jacket last seen running across Broad Street toward the Carver area.