HAMPTON, Va. — Just before the 4th of July weekend, Valerie Grier saw the chaos firsthand from her front porch.
“Down here it seems like hunting season, it really does. Because you don’t know the next place where the shooting is coming from," Grier told 13News Now Tuesday.
A shooting on Highland Avenue last Thursday sent Kahlif Reynolds, 20, of Newport News to the hospital with gunshot wounds. Investigators say he was shot inside a car that later crashed into a neighborhood home, and a 16-year-old passenger was also transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
On Tuesday morning, Hampton Police said Reynolds succumbed to his injuries on July 4th, becoming the latest named victim in a recent wave of gun violence across Hampton Roads.
“We can’t predict anything, it’s not like the rain where you look up and say, ‘Oh it’s going to rain today.' It doesn’t work like that," grandfather and Highland Avenue resident Lisburn Gardner said, who said the shooting made him afraid for the safety of his grandchildren.
“To hear a child that young die, you feel for the family," Grier said.
The news of Reynolds’ death came only hours after a different shooting in the City of Hampton, this time at the 7-Eleven station on Todds Lane.
Investigators say they found a 19-year-old man shot, who was later transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
These shootings follow the month of June when data reported to 13News Now shows 18 people were shot in the city of Hampton alone.
Grier says she's noticed the recent rise of gun violence across Hampton Roads, and that it's hard to ignore now that it's hitting close to home.
“Makes you want to stay inside, not just because of COVID but you’re afraid to walk out the door. That’s not a good feeling," Grier said. “Sitting and eating out here, you look at every car that goes by, and you shouldn’t have to do it."
Investigators say they have not yet found a motive in either of these recent cases. Authorities are still looking for suspects in both these cases, and want anyone with information to call Hampton Police at 757–727–6111, or the Crime Line at 1–888-LOCK-U-UP.