PORTSMOUTH, Va. — A day after an officer-involved shooting in Portsmouth neighborsliving on Elm Ave. said they are still shaken up.
"When I heard that first shot, like I said I was upstairs so I didn't really feel much but when it got closer I was like yo this is serious," Deja Martin, a neighbor said.
Ring Camera video showed the moment Portsmouth police pulled up Thursday night to Elm Ave., around 8 p.m. after receiving reports of shots fired.
Virginia State Police who is handling the investigation said when police arrived they found one man with a gunshot wound and a 25-year-old man armed with a gun.
State police said Portsmouth Police officers confronted the man as neighbors said the man started moving down the street.
"When they got closer to right here, I guess somebody was hiding right here so I had to take my baby into the house," Martin said.
Police said when the man failed to respond to commands, officers fired several shots hitting the suspect.
Both men were taken to the hospital.
The victim is expected to be okay and the 25-year-old is in critical condition.
Barry Randall-Jenkins, president of the neighborhood civic league, said the community needs to take a stronger stance on individuals who try to solve their problems with guns.
"It just puts us in a state of shock because if the criminal element here in Portsmouth has no respect, or they are not afraid of the police, then everyday law-abiding citizens, myself, we don't stand a chance," Randall-Jenkins, said.
Police could not say at this time if the man officers shot was pointing his gun at police or what the relationship was between the two men.
Now that the police tape has been taken down, neighbors say it will still be hard to sleep at night.
"Now it's like I gotta wake up in the middle of the night, check you know what's going on, check on my daughter even though she may not be scared but it's still something to think about," Martin said.
No officers were injured in Thursday's shooting.
The officers involved have been put on administrative pending the investigation.
