PORTSMOUTH, Va. - Kisha Brown knows it was a close call.
"This bullet is still inside. This bullet went straight to the back, and it's lodged in the back door," Brown told News 3, pointing to the bullet hole in the window of her business, The Dreadlock Spot.
Bullets hit the Spot on Wednesday afternoon when a man was shot in Afton Square in the Cradock neighborhood of Portsmouth. The front door of the business is shattered in addition to the hole in the window.
Brown said she heard the bullets and then ran to the back of the store for cover.
"I didn't think it was real. It sounded like somebody had an issue with their car. Then, it sounded like faint gunshots, and then it sounded like all-out war," Brown said.
Moments later she heard the front door of the business open and the man who'd been shot walked in.
"He said he'd gotten shot. He was leaking blood everywhere. He went to the back, and then he just collapsed," she said.
Next, paramedics arrived and took the man to the hospital with serious injuries.
On Thursday, Brown kept the business closed to clean up.
"I'm going to get this repaired here, and it's going to be business as usual," she said.
Unfortunately, neighbors say crime has become business as usual as of late. Bracey Parr, the president of the civic league, says there have been three shootings recently.
"It's been kind of a flurry of unfortunate activity," Parr told News 3.
The civic league is pushing the city to try and revitalize Afton Square. Several storefronts are vacant.
"The empty plots, the sort of run-down buildings. It invites crime, and we're trying to reverse that effect," said Parr.
Parr is also pushing police to add a precinct in Cradock, which he thinks would help.
"It can really be a charming, tight-knit community, but then you have instances of violence that kind of mar our image that we're working to address," he said.
Brown thinks the city needs to do more to engage young people in the city.
"We have to do our best to make sure that these kids are mentally sound because as you see, children turn into adults that have issues, and then it can turn into a situation like this," she said.
Brown is asking for help in making the repairs to her business. Here's how you can help.
Parr says he and civic league members are planning to attend the next city council meeting on Tuesday to push for change.
