Austin Walker
Spectrum editor
VCU Police arrested 18-year-old Felix C. Thompson Jr. of Henrico County following reports of shots being fired near the 400 block of N. Harrison Street on Aug. 18.
At approximately 3:13 a.m., Thompson fired multiple shots into the air with his handgun. He was charged with brandishing a firearm and willfully discharging a firearm in public.
Virginia law defines brandishing a firearm as holding it “in such a manner as to reasonably induce fear in the mind of another or hold a firearm or any air or gas operated weapon in a public place in such a manner as to reasonably induce fear in the mind of another being shot or injured.”
Both are Class 1 misdemeanors, punishable by up to one year in prison alongside heavy fines.
“According to witnesses, the suspects were two white males and one black male leaving the area in a red Mini Cooper heading east on Grace Street in the 900 block,” VCU Alert said in a statement.
The shooting occurred the day before classes began for students at VCU. Thompson is not a student at the university, but VCU police responded due to the incident’s close proximity to the campus.
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