PORTSMOUTH, Va. - A man and a woman were found shot in Portsmouth Sunday evening.
Police say they were found shot in the 1200/1400 blocks of Highland Ave. Police say the shooting was not domestic and the man and woman do not know each other.
The call was received at 10:06 p.m. Officials say they were both shot in the legs and arms.
They were both taken to the hospital to be treated. The woman was seriously injured and the man has non-life-threatening injuries.
Neighbors in the Brighton area of Portsmouth are on edge after the violent start to the holiday.
Broken glass from a car window was scattered along Highland Ave. in front of a house riddled with bullet holes.
“When I heard the shots, that was enough; I said, “Here we go again,’” said a neighbor who lives across the street and did not want to be identified.
This neighbor said he heard between six and 20 gunshots ring out on the night of the shooting.
“It was quick gunshots, like a automatic weapon - just pop, pop, pop, pop,” he said. “I said, ‘Wow, that’s right here in front of the house.’”
The family in that home said their mother was just coming home from the store and was getting out of her car when she was caught in the crossfire in a drive-by shooting.
Her daughter said her mom was shot in the shoulder and has bullet fragments in her head. The family said their mother is doing much better, but added she’ll be spending this Fourth of July in the hospital.
“Terrible,” the neighbor said. “Terrible. Terrible. Terrible.”
The family said this isn’t the first time the home has been targeted by someone who they say has a vendetta against the wrong person.
“It’s more disturbing,” the neighbor said.
Just up the street about two blocks away around the same time, a man was shot and wounded.
Monday, a woman at the house who knows the man told News 3 he’s now recovering at home.
Some neighbors who live on the street are worried for their safety.
“It’s pretty bad,” said the neighbor. “You hate it to be in front of your door.”
A few miles away at Poplar Hall Park in Norfolk, community activists came together for a community event called Tre’ Day Stop the Violence.
The event was organized by Travis Moore of Promo Kings Radio Podcast. It’s the first event he’s doing to help curb crime.
“To stop the violence, we got to come together as a community,” Moore said. “It can’t be about each individual. It got to be collectively all.”
Several grassroots groups from different cites, including Stop the Violence 757, came together on the holiday to help put an end to the gun violence happening all over Hampton Roads.
“This is where the community resources come in, not so much as financing, but just coming together to find out who’s doing what in your area, so that way, we’re not trying to reinvent the wheel,” said Stop the Violence 757 President Freddie Taylor Sr. “When we come together, we can get more done.”
The Norfolk Police Department donated free gun locks to hand out at the event.
According to police, there is currently no suspect information available and the investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call 1-888-LOCK-U-UP (1-888-562-5887).
