NORFOLK, Va. — A search for suspects remained underway Wednesday after a shooting outside a Norfolk convenience store sent a man to the hospital Tuesday.
The shooting was around 7 p.m. at the Triple C Convenience Store off Lindenwood Avenue, police said. Officers arrived to find a man suffering from a gunshot wound to the stomach. Medical personnel took him to the hospital with what were described as non-life-threatening injuries.
Dwayne Carter, who owns the store, told News 3's Jay Greene the shooting was "coincidental," and the victim wasn't a stranger to the area.
"He was coming out of the store. Somebody seen him, took the chance. He caught some shots. He got hit. Hopefully, he's okay," Carter told Greene. [He] was a regular from the neighborhood. We knew him pretty well."
But it's not the first time a shooting has occurred in front of the store.
A memorial still stands, honoring Dwayne's father, James Carter, who was shot and killed at this very location exactly two months ago.
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"Some guys was having words and one of them pulled a gun and started shooting and he got caught in the middle of that," Dwayne said about his father.
Three suspects were arrested in James Carter's death—one of them was charged with homicide.
"Just taking it one day at time, trying to cope. The pain still hasn't went away," Carter said. "I still feel his presence here."
Dwayne inherited the store from his father after graduating college about 10 years ago.
While the recent violence in front of the store has conjured up many feelings for Dwayne, he told Greene it doesn't change the character of the neighborhood.
"This is a good neighborhood, these are good people," he said. "I don't want anybody to think that 'okay this store's a bad area, bunch of shootings.' It's nothing like that at all."
He hopes the community can work together to curb the violence.
"Hopefully, we're just going to take some further steps, and like maybe they will come together more, and we can stop violent crime," Dwayne said. "With a lot of hard work and a little due diligence, I think we can get it to come down."
For now, Dwayne plans to keep the store open, something he said his father would want him to do.
"Still a service to the people, still a service to the community, still be that pillar," Dwayne said.
