A late-summer trip to the Whole Foods in Short Pump ended in violence for Julian Leshon McClenny, a 30-year-old father from Drewryville. On the evening of September 2, 2023, at about 8:50 p.m. in the 11100 block of West Broad Street in Glen Allen, McClenny was shot while leaving the store after a birthday dinner. He was taken to hospital with a gunshot wound to the head and died on September 6, 2023.

Reports describe the shooting as a random and unprovoked attack that began when a minivan carrying two people approached McClenny and his girlfriend as they walked away from the store. An attempted conversation, possibly including a request for money, escalated into a verbal altercation and then gunfire. His girlfriend, Courtney Brown, said the encounter included aggressive panhandling and that Julian was killed as he protected her.

Two people from Crewe, Virginia, were arrested two days after the shooting and initially charged with malicious wounding and firearms offenses; those charges were later upgraded to second-degree murder. Friends and family remembered McClenny as a devoted father, a hard worker who held multiple jobs, and an avid sports fan. If anyone witnessed the incident or knew Julian, please share what is remembered or any information that could help his loved ones.