VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — One person is dead after a shooting at Aspen Apartments in Virginia Beach, according to Virginia Beach Police.
“I heard a random bunch of shots. I’m thinking it was fireworks or something," said Alex Bonaparte.
Bonaparte lives in the apartment complex. He had just moved in about 24 hours earlier from Philadelphia because he wanted to live in a safer area.
The shooting happened around 1 a.m., police said.
"I think nothing of it and go to bed. Then, I’m woken up to my dogs barking at the window. Next think you know, I go outside and look through the blinds and I see a line of cop cars outside, EMS, and the area being taped off," Bonaparte recalled.
Police pronounced the victim dead on scene. He's since been identified as 20-year-old Darnell Coleman from Portsmouth.
Other residents who talked to News 3 off camera say they also heard the gunshots. One resident said she didn’t realize they were gunshots at first, thinking they were fireworks because, she said, fireworks often get shot off nearby.
Both residents, however, said they had lived at the complex for several years and nothing like this had ever happened.
“(I'm) not scared, but it was something unexpected," said Bonaparte.
The apartment complex is across the street from Timberlake Shopping Center.
Sarah Slade has had her business, Re.fine the Salon, there for a few years and said the deadly shooting is concerning.
“Because we are primarily female-employed, it definitely makes me a little apprehensive. We want to make sure our guests are always safe and the community is safe. So knowing that we’re that close to something as serious as a murder or a gunshot wound, it’s a little scary," Slade said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, police had not said who the victim, what led to the shooting, or if there were any suspects or persons of interest.
