VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — On Tuesday, Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate gave more insight on the five homicides in the city this year that all involve people under the age of 18.
In Virginia Beach, there have been seven homicides so far in 2024, it's down from this time last year, but more than half involve juveniles.
The first of the five happened back on Jan. 28, off Baker Road, where a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old allegedly shot and killed an 18-year-old over marijuana.
Watch related story: 17-year-old arrested in fatal Virginia Beach shooting: Police
Neudigate said on March 7, a 16-year-old and a 15-year-old were allegedly playing with a gun and accidentally killed a 14-year-old boy.
On April 5, the police chief said a 17-year-old allegedly killed a 21-year-old.
Neudigate said police believe this was targeted and had something to do with a romantic triangle.
May 7, Jordan Williams was allegedly killed by another 16-year-old in the College Park neighborhood. Police believe this started over a slap or disrespect on a basketball court.
The latest shooting happened this past weekend at Mt. Trashmore, where a 15-year-old girl was killed and an 18-year-old was taken to the hospital.
"The juvenile victims and the suspects in these five offenses there is a theme, many of them have a connection to Renaissance," Neudigate said.
Chief Neudigate said he has talked with school superintendent Dr. Donald Robertson about preventing gun violence among students.
"He wondered if we needed to do a little bit more of a deep dive into that school setting in terms of other things occurring," Dr. Donald Robertson said to the school board Tuesday. "Are there opportunities to create better relationships between police officers and students?"
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Robertson told the board former coaches who are mentors at Renaissance Academy will be meeting with school resource officers to talk about what they're seeing at the school and how they can prevent more violence from happening.
In an interview with News 3, Robertson said this issue is bigger than just one school.
"The bigger challenge is the access to guns that our students have not just in Virginia Beach but all over the country is a real issue," Robertson said.
Watch related story: Virginia Beach teen charged with murder; accused of killing 16-year-old
Earlier this year Neudigate said one out of every 10 cars broken into in Virginia Beach a gun is taken.
Virginia Beach Police are still looking to make an arrest in the shooting at Mt. Trashmore, if you know anything give Crime Solvers a call at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP
