PORTSMOUTH, Va. — There’s anger, frustration and terror in a Portsmouth neighborhood after a shootout over the weekend left homes and vehicles riddled with bullets Saturday evening.
“Relaxing evening, minding your own business, and boom - there was, 'pop pop pop pop pop pop,' a whole lot of gunshots. It sound like it was an action show,” said Joann Rose.
Rose says it felt like a war was going on in her Cradock neighborhood around 7 p.m.
Her husband’s car was caught in the crossfire while the family ducked for cover inside.
“We went out and saw these big bullet holes — I mean, three bullet holes; one was like if he was in the car, he would’ve got a shot in his head. The other one, he would’ve been shot in his shoulder because it was on the passenger side, and there was another one that went straight through the back of the car.”
Rose has another bullet hole in her house she says is from years' past. She and other neighbors say gunfire is a common occurrence.
“I’m feeling very disturbed. I’m upset about it. I want something to change,” said Rose.
Kimberly Quimby says she saw the shooting begin and was woken out of her sleep from the sound of more gunfire overnight.
“I just happened to see a car pull up and then another SUV come down, and they just started shooting and that’s all I saw because I ran inside,” said Quimby.
The bullets went flying for a distance before landing in neighbors’ homes five houses down Burtis Street near Channing Avenue.
“The bullet went through the drywall, through my son's bedroom door,” said James Young.
It was a close call for Young and his 1-year-old son.
Related: Virginia Beach neighborhood asking police to take action after multiple drive-by shootings
“If anyone had been walking at that time, they could’ve definitely got killed. It was low enough to have been a head shot."
Young is ready to pack his bags, but others say their neighborhood is worth fighting for.
“We’re not going anywhere,” said Rose. “We’re going to fight for our neighborhood. That’s the plan, and we’re going to win.”
