VB triple shooting arrest, Navy tree removal meeting, student loan changes: Sunrise Brief

TOP STORIES: VB triple shooting arrest, Navy tree removal meeting, student loan changes

1. A suspect was arrested in connection to a shooting that sent three people —including himself — to the hospital, police said Monday. The shooting happened around 9:15 p.m. on April 14 in the 4700 Block of Haygood Road.

   Haygood triple shooting began as argument on front porch before suspect fired: Court docs

   Police say Eugene Martin, 36, was arrested and given eight charges, including two counts of aggravated malicious wounding and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. According to a criminal complaint reviewed by WTKR News 3, Martin was at the home of one of the victims — a woman who lives on Haygood Road.

   Martin and the woman began arguing and she tried to kick him out, but he remained on the porch arguing with her. Another man in the home came out with a gun, the complaint says. The second man told police he saw Martin with a gun and reported Martin shot first — the second man returned fire. 30 pills were also found in Martin's pocket, which he told police were ecstasy for personal use.
   

2. The Navy will host a community meeting on Tuesday to discuss their effort to take down trees that are outside Naval Station Norfolk. Officials say the trees, which are on private property, are interfering with flight paths at the base's airfield.

   Navy to host community meeting to discuss ongoing tree removal process

   Naval Station Norfolk’s commanding officer, Capt. Matt Schlarman, talked with reporters to preview the meeting. Schlarman said the Navy has identified 400 trees on city of Norfolk and private property that need to come down. He says 150 trees have been removed so far, but a majority of the trees are on private property.

   The Navy says it will pay for a third-party contractor to evaluate how much each tree is worth and then the Navy will pay property owners accordingly. The contractor will re-plant something smaller in the tree's place as well. However, some residents spoke to News 3 to express concern for this project, saying, "we certainly aren’t going to go in and willingly let them have trees."

   Tuesday’s meeting was scheduled to run from 5 to 7 p.m. at Northside Middle School in Norfolk.
   

3. The U.S. Department of Education will begin collecting student loans for those who have defaulted, officials said Monday. Currently, around 5.3 million borrowers are in default on their federal student loans.

   Beginning May 5, the department will begin involuntary collection through the Treasury Department's offset program, which withholds payments from the government — including tax refunds, federal salaries and other benefits — from people with past-due debts to the government. After a 30-day notice, the department will also begin garnishing wages for borrowers in default.

   Another change will impact married borrowers. According to an Education Department declaration made on Wednesday, anyone that uses an income-driven repayment plan won't have their spouse's income taken into account when calculating their monthly payment amount, meaning payments could decrease for some.

   No federal student loans have been referred for collection since March 2020, including those in default. Around 4 million people are between 91 to 180 days late on their loan payments. Less than 40% of all borrowers are current on their student loans, department officials said.

This morning's weather: Warm again, some scattered storms moving in

Meteorologist Myles Henderson says its warm again today with highs reaching the mid 80s, almost 15 degrees above normal for this time of year. Expect partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered showers and storms moving in this afternoon with a cold front. Some storms could be strong to severe with gusty winds and heavy downpours.

Rain should move out early Wednesday morning and clouds will clear out through the afternoon. Highs will drop to the low 70s tomorrow behind the cold front.

For the latest weather updates, watch Myles live on News 3 This Morning here.

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