VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — People gathered here at the New Song Fellowship Church in Level Green in Virginia Beach Wednesday evening. They're looking for a solution to youth violence.
This meeting came after several homicides in Hampton Roads involving children and teens. That includes the shooting death of 16-year-old Jordan Williams, who was remembered at a vigil in Level Green earlier this month, and most recently a shooting at Mt. Trashmore that left a 15-year-old dead and police fighting misinformation.
"Right now, there is no bigger concern in the city of Virginia Beach than youth violence," Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate told Level Green residents Wednesday.
Although Virginia Beach has seen fewer homicides in 2024 than this time last year, five of the city's seven homicides have involved people under the age of 18, according to Chief Neudigate.
He said it's tough to address the issue when many in the community don't report crimes.
"We need to figure out how to fix this going forward. Looking at data, we have conducted 1,200 additional patrols in the Level Green area in the last 12 months," Chief Neudigate said. "When I look at top ten calls for service [it is] 911 disconnects, overnight parkers, but when I look at the data for when someone called in a person with a gun, how many calls do you think I have year-to-date from the community about what they witnessed out there? Zero. How many times have I got calls for shots fired in the community? Zero. I know you're seeing it. I need you to trust us. I need you to call it in. Because we can't respond if we don't know it's occurring."
But it isn't just reporting crimes. For the residents, it's stopping issues before they begin.
Virginia Beach
5 out of 7 homicides in Virginia Beach in 2024 involved people under 18
"One thing we lack in the Level Green neighborhood is activities for our young folks," said Sabrina Wooten, Virginia Beach council member. "That's something I take to heart to make sure we're having continuous activities. This is not a one man show, and you know as well as I do, it takes a village for our kids, for our youth."
"Our parents, we need to step up," added Shana Turner, Level Green resident and founder of Hampton Roads Mothers and Men Against Senseless Killings.
Turner is one of many personally impacted. Her son was killed by a coworker in 2017. She now works tohelp other families.
"I feel like it's so normalized that we see and hear about this every day, but we should care because we are depleting our generations," said Turner. "I don't want another mother or father or family to go through what I go through every single day. You relive it. When you hear things like this you relive it. That's why it's important to me. We don't need to deplete our generation."
Watch related story: 5 2024 Virginia Beach homicides involved people under 18 years old
She had a message for today's kids: "I just want them to put the guns down and stop killing each other. Live, live, live because you have a life to live and we love you."
Chief Neudigate said hearing from the community reaffirms what the police believe. He said they're working to disrupt gang violence and limit kids' access to guns.
"It's coming from cars, from home break-ins," said Chief Neudigate. "Are there straw purchase activity? There is. But not to the level we are seeing from the car thefts."
And he says parents should take initiative and check on their kids' behavior on and offline.
"We need those adults to go in and check your kids' rooms," he said. "Because the kids have guns. They're stealing them out of cars. Make sure your kids are in the house at night . . . Right now it's more important to get the guns out of the hands of kids before they pull the trigger and not ask the questions right now and save a life."
He added that they'll consider holding parents accountable.
"It's not off the table if we have to hold parents accountable for their negligence and recklessness that ends up in a criminal act and the elements are there we're going to charge them," said Chief Neudigate.
Solutions discussed at Wednesday's meeting included speaking up, expanding the use of Shot Spotter and Flock camera technology, greater diversity on police forces and increased youth recreation opportunities including a recreation center and the Parks After Dark initiative.
