VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Virginia Beach Police Department is still searching for a suspect involved in a shooting, which hurt four people late Friday night.
Detectives said two officers surveyed the West Beach Tavern restaurant that night -- due to past complaints of increased gun violence -- when police say they saw a fight break out among a group of people.
Police say the people involved in the fight started shooting at each other, so the officers intervened. That's when detectives say both the officers shot at a person with a gun. That person ran away, but it's still unclear if they got hit with a bullet.
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Virginia Beach police said the incident happened in front of the West Beach Tavern. However, the restaurant manager, Shani Yourman, said it didn't happen on the business property.
"It didn't happen on-premises, outside, or directly across the street," said Yourman.
Instead, Yourman said the shooting happened in a parking lot of another set of businesses, which weren't open at the time of the shooting.
"The threat and everything just happened from this area," said Yourman as she pointed diagonally to the left of her business. "Which again, security had no control what goes on in this block."
Bullet holes in windows of businesses from separate incidents along Cleveland Street illustrate the recent frustration among nearby business owners. Some workers across the street from the West Beach Tavern said they have to deal with the restaurant customers parking in their business parking lots and then leaving behind trash such as beer bottles, cigarette butts, and more.
Yourman said her restaurant's security didn't see or notice any fights on the property or inside the restaurant Friday night. She said her security team made sure people didn't enter the restaurant with any weapons.
Yourman said she never expected to see this type of violence, especially with a police presence.
"I was very surprised because we let everybody know we are fans of the police," said Yourman. "We've been through many many cases where we can help them out. We are absolutely cooperating 300% in this matter to help them out."
Yourman said she is not sure if the people involved in the shooting were in her restaurant at all before the incident happened. She says she is working with police to increase security moving forward.
The Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorney's Office is now handling the police shooting aspect of this investigation.
We reached out to the Virginia Beach Police Department for clarification on where the shooting exactly happened, but we have not yet received an official update.