A woman standing outside the Obenshain Center in downtown Richmond, Virginia — the building that houses the Republican Party of Virginia's offices — was shot and wounded on Thursday afternoon, October 29, in gunfire that police say began with a dispute at a hair salon across the street and had nothing to do with the party or the upcoming midterm elections. The woman, whom police described as an innocent bystander, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and is expected to survive, Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said, according to the Associated Press.

Source: Associated Press

The shooting was reported at about 1:45 p.m. in the 100 block of East Grace Street, directly in front of the Obenshain Center. According to Chief Edwards, investigators learned that a woman inside a hair salon across the street had an ongoing dispute with a man connected to the business who came into the shop. The salon owner told police the man arrived in an aggressive manner and that she felt threatened and fired a gun in self-defence, WWBT reported. The woman who fired was taken into custody, the AP reported; as of Thursday evening's reports, police had not announced charges against her, and the accounts of who fired and why remain allegations under investigation, not established findings.

Source: WWBT via WFB News

People canvassing nearby brought the wounded woman inside the Republican Party building, where she received aid — office staff applied pressure to her wound and called 911, according to local reporting — until Richmond first responders, who the party said reached the scene within minutes, took her to a hospital. A person inside the offices told 8News they heard shots outside and that the woman had been shot in the shoulder.

Who police are looking for

Richmond police identified Dorian Evans, 34, of Richmond, as an employee involved in the dispute who fled before officers arrived. Police said Evans is wanted on charges of attempted murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, according to WWBT's reporting. Police were also looking for another employee involved in the dispute who may himself have been shot — officers found blood at the scene — and Chief Edwards urged the man to turn himself in so he can receive medical care and speak with detectives, the AP reported.

Inside the building, staff were working when the shots rang out. Frank Loehr, the party's chief financial officer, told reporters that he and other staffers were inside the office at the time. Virginia Commonwealth University, whose campus is nearby, sent an alert telling its community to avoid 115 East Grace Street after the incident, and the taped-off sidewalk and entrance in front of the Obenshain Center were later cleaned by Richmond fire and EMS crews, according to local reports.

Why a salon dispute drew national attention

The location is what turned a local dispute into a national story within hours: gunfire directly outside a state political party's headquarters, five days before the November 3 midterm elections that will determine control of Congress, at a moment of heightened national anxiety about political violence. Both the city's police chief and the party itself moved quickly to state the same conclusion — that the shooting grew out of a workplace dispute at the salon and was not aimed at the party, its staff or the election. Police have not identified the wounded woman, and nothing in Thursday's reporting suggested she had any connection to either the salon or the party offices beyond standing on that block.

For downtown Richmond residents and workers, the practical impact was an afternoon of closed sidewalks, a heavy police presence around East Grace Street and unanswered questions about the second man who may have been wounded. Shooting investigations of this kind typically turn on surveillance video from the block, witness accounts from the salon and the canvassers who helped the victim, and hospital reports that can confirm whether a second gunshot victim exists.

What happens next

Detectives are seeking Dorian Evans on the attempted-murder and firearm charges police announced, and are still trying to locate and identify the other employee who may have been shot. The woman taken into custody after telling police she fired in self-defence could face a charging decision once detectives complete their initial investigation; self-defence claims in Virginia are assessed against the specific facts of who threatened whom, which is why police have been careful to describe the accounts as what the people involved told them. The wounded bystander's recovery, and any court appearances in the coming days, will be the next confirmed developments. Awaaz Punjab will update this story when Richmond police release further verified details.