Two people were killed and five injured Tuesday during a shooting near a high school graduation in the US state of Virginia, police said, the latest in an epidemic of mass shootings plaguing the country.

The shooting took place around 5 pm (2100 GMT) outside a theater in the state capital of Richmond, where students from a local high school were celebrating their graduation, Richmond interim police chief Rick Edwards told reporters.

The deceased included an 18-year-old graduate and a 36-year-old man, he added.

Of the five injured, one remained in critical condition.

"People scattered, it was very chaotic at the scene," Edwards said.

A nineteen-year-old suspect fled the scene, but was soon arrested and is to be charged with second-degree murder, Edwards said.

The official did not name a possible motive for the crime, but said the suspect knew at least one of the victims.

Several handguns were recovered from the scene.

With more firearms than inhabitants, the United States has the highest rate of gun deaths of any developed country -- 49,000 in 2021, up from 45,000 the year before.