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Norfolk shooting victim believes he was the target of a hate crime

Posted at 5:22 PM, Jul 07, 2014
and last updated 2014-07-07 18:14:07-04

The first of the five shootings that wounded 15 different people in Norfolk over July 4th weekend was in the Diggs Town neighborhood.

Witnesses say a car drove up in the middle of a neighborhood 4th of July party and just starting shooting.

Five people at the party were shot and one of them says he feels he and his friends were the target for being gay.

With a cast on his foot and crutches on his lap, 19-year-old Walter Barnes says takes us through the moments before he was shot.

"My friend was like he seen the boys pull up in the car and was like there goes some f******, and he said by the time they said that, he just heard gunshots," Barnes says, "My back was facing towards the car when it hit so I didn't see nothing. I didn't know where it came from, it just came from out of the blue."

We reached out to police to see if they believe the shooting on Thurgood street was a targeted hate crime. They have not answered our question.

As for the investigation into the shootings, police have arrested four adults and one 17-year-old. They continue to investigate further.

Related:

Another shooting in Norfolk just 24 hours after 14 people were shot

Norfolk Police Chief releases statement about four over-night shootings