A tragic incident unfolded early Wednesday morning when a 16-year-old student was fatally shot inside a Richmond apartment as a SWAT team stood outside preparing to execute a search warrant.

Police identified the victim as Leon Bowling, a student at Richmond High School for the Arts. According to investigators, SWAT officers were serving a search warrant for weapons at the Belt Atlantic Apartments in the 4000 block of Midlothian Turnpike around 5:45 a.m. when the shooting occurred.

Authorities say officers knocked and announced themselves multiple times before approaching the apartment door. A woman exited the unit moments before gunfire erupted from inside, with Crime Insider sources reporting that more than a dozen rounds were fired.

SWAT officers did not return fire, officials stressed, and their protective shields absorbed incoming rounds. No officers were injured.

Two young men later came out of the apartment and told police that a teenager inside had been shot. Bowling was rushed for medical care but succumbed to his injuries later that day.

Community leaders expressed grief and concern over the circumstances. Pastor Valerie Coley called the death disturbing and warned of the dangers posed by youth access to firearms.

“We need to identify where these youth are getting these guns from,” Coley said. “When you have a child that has a weapon in their hands, that’s a dangerous place to be because they don’t have the skills to handle it.”

The Richmond Police Department’s investigation remains ongoing, with detectives working to determine who fired the fatal shot and what led to the gunfire inside the home.