PORTSMOUTH, Va. - The Portsmouth Police Department is investigating a gunshot shot wound incident that occurred late Wednesday night.
According to dispatch the call came in around 11:18 p.m. Reports say the incident happened near the 3300 block of Turnpike Road.
An adult male sustained a serious gunshot wound and is receiving treatment at a hospital. He is expected to recover.
Police responded to the area around King Shop N Go. An employee tells News 3 he believes the man was shot up the street before winding up in front of the store.
"It's always happening like this. Someone gets shot somewhere else and then comes here and they start shooting," the employee said.
It's the latest in a string of violent incidents to start off the year in the city.
A recent report says year-to-date in February, violence is up 56% compared with the start of 2021.
Just last week, a Portsmouth Public Schools employee was shot. A witness told News 3 the employee said she was on the way to work.
A police department spokesperson said there's no updates to release in the case at this time and it remains under investigation.
The cases have the attention of city leadership, who met on Tuesday to address gun violence.
"I don't sleep at night because I worry about the officers and the citizens," said Police Chief Renado Prince.
This week, the police department released a series of videos about what people can do if they find themselves in a potentially dangerous situation.
"We hope this training will equip you with the proper knowledge to handle these unlikely circumstances," Lt. Travis Smaglo says in one of the videos.
One of thevideos addresses what people can do if they're being robbed and the person implies they have a weapon.
"Consider that threat to be factual, and do not challenge the suspect," says Smaglo.
A police department spokesperson says the videos were released as a refresher in an effort to keep people informed.
Another video talks about letting police intervene if an argument gets heated.
"Usually, all it takes is a little intervention to let calmer heads prevail. Please be the ones to let us intervene," says Smaglo.
