Two students injured in attempted robbery

Editor’s Note: In the following story, some initials were used in place of names in the interest of preserving the safety of several witnesses.

Two students were shot during an attempted robbery of four students on the 300 block of Goshen Street Friday. The injured students were taken to VCU Medical Center, one with minor injuries and one in critical condition.

R.B., 18, is still in the hospital. According to his mother, he was shot in the upper abdomen, which pierced two of his main arteries, crushed some bones and caused nerve damage to his left arm.

R.B.’s mother said he has limited to no movement in his left arm and he has undergone two surgeries. His arteries have been repaired and he is in critical but stable condition.

“(R.B.) lost half his blood. He’s in very fragile health right now,” his mother said. “He’s talking, but with the drugs he’s taking he goes in and out of sleep.”

The other injured student, 20-year-old B.H., was shot in the leg.

D.C., an art foundation major, was one of the four students assaulted. She said B.H.’s condition has improved and he is and currently “at home.”

R.B., D.C. and B.H.’s initials have been used instead of their names for safety reasons.

“It was just one guy,” D.C. said of the attempted robbery. “The four of us . were walking over to my friend’s house
and we (heard) from behind ‘put everything in the bag.'”

D.C. said the assailant was wearing a mask that covered his face.

“We started putting everything in the bag,” D.C. said. “I asked if he wanted my makeup and he said I was getting smart with him.”

D.C. said her comment seemed to aggravate the robber.
“He cocked the gun and pointed it at me,” D.C. said. “That’s when my two friends (T.J. and B.H.) jumped in.”
R.B.’s mother said, “They pulled the mask off him. The kids fought him”

In the ensuing action, B.H. and R.B. were shot. T.J. was not injured.

“I only heard one gun shot, because it was so close to my face that all I could hear was ringing.” D.C. said. “That gunshot, I guess, hit R.B. in the neck. I was so close to him that his blood just was all over me.”

The police arrived in about two minutes, R.B.’s mother said. D.C. said an officer initially thought she had been shot because there was blood on her head.

“T.J. actually got the gun and gave (it) to the police,” D.C. said.

D.C. said the assailant dropped “all his stuff” and he had “some personal things in the bag too.”

Melissa Roberts, a VCU alumnus who works at a restaurant located near the crime scene, did not hear the gunfire but came out of her workplace when she saw the police cars. Upon noticing someone was bleeding, she went back inside and picked up a stack of dish towels to help the injured student.

“(Then), I grabbed (D.C.), because she was in shock and crying, and pulled her over here,” Roberts said, as she pointed to a bench near the restaurant, across the street from the shooting. “(I) cleaned her up. When she became more lucid, I called her mom.”

Roberts said the police ended up using her restaurant as a base of operations.

“It’s kind of scary because I had just taken the trash out,” Roberts said. “And it’s a Friday-people are parking and walking and biking. It’s not like it was a dark, quiet avenue.”

Students were alerted by e-mail about the shootings Saturday and were warned to be cautious and alert.

Sung Lim, staff copy editor, contributed to this report.