The sad story of Nathan Ratigan

From the Times Dispatch:

A 24-year-old man killed in Richmond early Sunday was shot in a confrontation between people who were celebrating a birthday and a group of uninvited men who showed up at the party and refused to leave, according to a friend of the victim.

Nathan Ratigan, who is from Mechanicsville, was fatally shot shortly before 1 a.m. outside the home where the party was being held in the 300 block of West Marshall Street in the Jackson Ward neighborhood.

Two men dragged their wounded friend from where he was shot as they came under fire from another of the assailants, said Alex Queen, a friend of Ratigan who was not at the party but said he has spoken with two witnesses.