NORFOLK, Va. - Del. Jackie Glass says last night's shooting on Vincent Avenue happened just down the street from her home.
"I walked out of my house to go get my water bottle from my car and I hear the police saying, 'I will shoot you. I will shoot you,'" Glass said in a Facebook live video on Thursday morning.
A police officer was shot during the incident but is expected to recover. Police said another person was also shot and taken to the hospital.
"I am not surprised. I know that across our city there are many communities that are dealing with, like we are, every other night hearing gunshots," said Glass.
Glass said she and her staff have been working on legislation this summer to introduce during the next session to address crime.
"Mitigating crime requires investment and that's it. You get more out of a person by putting money in their community rather than incarcerating them," she said.
She said she used to have a good working relationship with a community resource officer, but said staffing challenges within the department have hindered that. The department is down more than 200 officers.
"We don't have the resources and capacity that we used to and that's because folks are leaving the department and that's just not Norfolk. We know that," she said.
The city is not just dealing with violent crime, but also an uptick in property crime. On Wednesday afternoon, hours before the shooting, News 3 sat down with City Manager Chip Filer, who said the police department is working immediately to address the rise in property crime.
"We've enhanced our patrols. We're adding cameras. We're really getting out. We're beefing up our investigative units to try and close more of these cases," Filer said.
In Richmond, Attorney General Jason Miyares said he's been monitoring the spike in gun violence in Hampton Roads, calling it "heartbreaking." He said more prosecutors would be added to work with the U.S. Attorney's Office to try and prosecute violent criminals.
"We want to go after those repeat violent offenders that are creating such destruction on our streets. We're going to come after you and we're going to get you off our streets, so we can live back safely in our community," he said in an interview with News 3 on Thursday.
