HAMPTON, Va. — On Monday, a spokesperson with the Hampton Police Division said a 12-year-old girl was found dead from a gunshot wound inside a home on North Roger Peed Drive.
The shooting happened Saturday at around 11:30 a.m. and has left one Hampton community heartbroken.
“It definitely feels quieter in the neighborhood," said one neighbor. “To find out that we lost a youth so young and so close to me, it’s very shocking. It’s heart-wrenching. It’s tragic."
The neighbor asked to remain anonymous.
“My thoughts and prayers are definitely with her mother, father, whomever it was that was responsible for taking care of her because now they no longer have her," said the neighbor.
The neighbor said her daughter and the 12-year-old girl were friends.
“She just lives across the street from us. She played with her the day before she passed. They were riding scooters together," the neighbor said.
Hampton police said they have identified and spoken to everyone who was involved. Investigators are trying to figure out why the shooting happened.
“It’s unsettling to know that her life has been taken so tragically and short to supposedly gun violence," said the neighbor.
The loss of the little girl has community advocates calling for change.
“And regardless of the circumstances and the situation of how it happened, we have to do more. We have to do better," said For the People M.O.S Inc. President Andrew Shannon.
Hampton police said there is no danger to others living in the neighborhood and there have been no charges or arrests made yet.