VCU safety ambassador Denise Smith honored for response to high school graduation shooting

By Jake Burns
VCU Police

Seconds after the gunshots rang out, a panicked crowd was running toward Denise Smith. Among them: the shooter.

It was June 6, 2023, and Richmond's Huguenot High School had just held its graduation at the Altria Theater, adjacent to Virginia Commonwealth University's Monroe Park Campus. Smith, an unarmed VCU safety ambassador, was assigned to traffic and crowd control outside VCU's West Main Street parking deck.

As guests spilled into the park after the ceremony, a shooter killed a Huguenot graduate and the student's stepfather, and multiple others were injured. Within moments, Smith had de-escalated the chaos - in part by embracing a distraught young man she later learned was the shooter.

It took several hours for her to fully grasp the moment's significance. In engaging with the suspect, she also secured the firearm used in the shooting and kept him on scene until VCU Police arrived to make an arrest.

"Whether you've done something criminal or not, we're all human beings," Smith said, recalling the moment the shooter wrapped his arms around her.

On Tuesday this week, a year and half after the incident, Smith's bravery and demeanor, which may have saved additional lives, was recognized as she received a 2024 Valor Award. The regional event celebrates first responders who, in performing exceptional acts of courage, put themselves at risk in service to others.

VCU safety ambassadors are unarmed, civilian members of the VCU Police force who typically respond to calls that do not require a sworn police officer. On June 6 last year, like every day on duty, Smith's only tools were her training and her radio.

After the initial shots were fired, the suspect fled the scene toward the West Main Street parking deck and immediately approached Smith. She said he was clearly in shock - and dropped a handgun right at her feet. (Prosecutors later said the weapon was used in the shooting.)

Smith said the suspect immediately began telling her that one of his family members was in danger. She continually reassured him she was there to keep everyone safe.

"The biggest thing is just keeping the weapon away from him where he couldn't pick it up," Smith said. "I kind of kicked it away a little bit one time. My biggest thing was, you don't need to pick it up, but you're going to stay here with the gun because it's yours. You're going to own up to it."

At the Valor Awards ceremony, VCU safety ambassador Denise Smith was recognized with other first responders who, in performing exceptional acts of courage, put themselves at risk in service to others. (Jake Burns, VCU Police/Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

Video from surveillance cameras and Smith's body-worn camera show how Smith attempted to keep the suspect as calm as possible while the crowd swarmed toward their vehicles, trying to escape the scene.

"I just told him we'll help you find your family, but let's get you safe first," Smith said. "I realized when I got outside of the deck that he was the shooter because I heard it over the radio."

A few minutes after the encounter, VCU Police officers arrived at the parking deck and took the suspect into custody without incident.

"I still to this day don't think I fully embrace how things could have turned the wrong way," Smith said. "People like to ask me, what was I thinking during the whole moment? I don't know; training takes over. You just have to protect the people who are around. That was my biggest thing - trying to make sure people were in a safe place."

In the Valor Award nomination, John Venuti, associate vice president for public safety at VCU and VCU Health and chief of police, cited Smith's skill and poise amid the day's chaos.

"Smith is constantly reassuring the shooter that everything will be OK and dissuading him from killing himself," Venuti wrote, adding that she kept the gun out of the shooter's hand and encouraged him to sit on the ground - which helped VCU Police navigate a safer scene to make an arrest. "Smith displayed high levels of courage, commitment and dedication to the safety of the VCU community. Her actions clearly demonstrate valor."

VCU safety ambassadors undergo intensive crisis intervention training and are typically first to respond to mental health crises reported to VCU Police. That work, as well as the design of their uniforms - reflective yellow and black - were invaluable in the moment she encountered the shooter, Smith said.

"All we have is a radio and our words. I think the biggest thing that got him to confide in me was that I wasn't a police officer," she said. "Safety ambassadors are comforting to look at. If he would have walked into a parking deck and saw two or three police officers, he wouldn't have turned himself in, I don't think. It would not have been the same situation."

In addition to being an original member of the safety ambassador team, which began taking service calls in January 2023, Smith is also a graduate of VCU, with a degree in social work.

"That's why I came to this job," she said. "I helped people at my old job doing social work, but here it's more impactful. We're here to protect people."

And as shown by the events of June 6 last year, that impact can be sudden and lifesaving, in moments that require ice in the veins and warmth in the heart.

"The biggest thing is empathizing with people and being in their shoes with them," Smith said. "Instead of looking down in a hole at somebody saying, 'Let's get up,' you're down there with them. You're holding the light down there until they're ready to come out."

The day after the shooting, Smith worked another high school graduation assignment, this time at VCU's Siegel Center. She said a commitment to duty is a hallmark of first responders.

"I've been called a hero a lot lately, and to me, I was just doing my job. It's something I signed up for. I would do it all over again," Smith said. "People don't just come into these careers. It's a calling."

The VCU Safety Ambassador team includes six full-time professional employees and three part-time student employees. Learn more about the team on the program webpage.

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