NORFOLK, Va. — Two lives ended too soon and Norfolk City Councilwoman Courtney Doyle wants answers.
"The tragedy on Saturday morning was horrific," she said.
Sierra Jenkins and Devon Malik Harris, both 25, were among five people shot early Saturday morning on Granby Street.
Days after the shooting, Norfolk Police Chief Larry Boone said his understanding is the deadly incident stemmed from a fight inside Chicho’s Pizza.
"You got two guys that have a quarrel over spilled drink and it led to all this," he said.
Boone said they have no solid leads on a suspect at this point.
"I’m cautiously optimistic because of the dynamics of where this occurred that we will make an arrest," Boone said.
Moving forward, the chief said the police department will have more officers patrolling downtown starting Thursday. He notes staffing is an issue, so they’re pulling people off of specialty units.
Boone said his department is down about 200 officers right now.
He says he also wants to see more cameras downtown and possibly deploying drones during large events.
"Those types of things that tell people they are being watched change behavior," Boone said.
Norfolk Councilwoman Courtney Doyle says they’re planning to have a discussion during Tuesday night’s council meeting over what can be done.
"Personally, I’d like to see a gun-free Granby," she said during the Downtown Norfolk Civic League meeting Monday night.
Doyle said she wants to review every existing business’s conditional use permit to make sure they’re following the rules, starting with Chicho’s Pizza.
"Are they being compliant? Were they compliant Friday and Saturday night?"
She also said the city should halt granting any new CUPs until the existing ones have been reviewed.
Doyle also says she wants to see ABC step in to make sure people aren’t being overserved and to see bars and clubs close at midnight, instead of 2 a.m.
"Nothing good happens after midnight," Doyle said.
Councilwoman Andria McClellan agreed with the points made by Doyle and Boone but says there needs to be a balance.
"At the same time, I don’t want to make Granby Street a militarized zone," she said. "Make sure people are welcome and feel comfortable coming downtown."
While Chief Boone says he’s not trying to minimize what happened Saturday morning, he wants to point out that violent crime is down 13% from this time last year.