Richmond, Va. (Newsradiowrva.com) - A judge ruled Tuesday that the report into last summer’s deadly shooting outside the Altria Theatre following Huguenot High School’s graduation should be released to the public.
The Richmond School Board has not released the 32-page report since it was completed last fall. The board’s nine members were allowed to read it, but local media outlets were denied access.
Richmond media outlets filed a suit against the Richmond City School Board seeking to enforce their rights under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
In Tuesday’s decision, Richmond Circuit Court Judge W. Reilly Marchant said the attorney-client privilege exemption that the board cited as reason for not releasing the report did not apply in this case.
“The court finds that the School Board has failed to carry its burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the entire Report and its Exhibits are protected from disclosure under the attorney-client privilege as established by Virginia Code,” Marchant wrote in his decision.
Last June, gunfire erupted outside the Altria Theatre shortly after Huguenot High School’s graduation ceremony. Seven people were injured and two people – graduating senior Shawn Jackson and his stepfather Lorenzo Smith – were killed.
Judge Marchant has ordered the full report with proper redactions be released by 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 17.
