PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Author's note: The video above is on file from October 1, 2021.
Two separate shootings happened in Portsmouth in the late hours of October 1 and left one dead and two injured.
The shootings happened minutes apart and both incidents were roughly within a mile of each other.
The first shooting happened near the 200 block of Dale Drive around 10:52 p.m., according to Portsmouth police.
When they arrived, they found a 16-year-old juvenile male suffering from a serious gunshot wound. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment. His condition is not known at this time.
The suspect in this shooting was a 17-year-old male who has now been identified. He has been arrested and charged with malicious wounding, reckless handling of a firearm, use of a firearm underage possession of a firearm and firearm by felon.
Five minutes later, police received a call at 10:57 p.m. that there had been a shooting near the 1800 block of South Street involving two boys.
A 16-year-old boy died from his injuries, and the other, who is 17, was transported to a local hospital. Their identities have not been released at this time.
A release from Portsmouth police identified a suspect vehicle in camera footage that is believed to be a black Lincoln Navigator SUV. According to police, there were at least two suspects in the car.
Police announced on October 12 that they believe that this vehicle may have been involved in a second incident. The SUV could be a model MKC or MKX from 2011 through 2014.
The police department's Twitter said the car also appeared to have a Virginia license plate and blue LED headlights.
Portsmouth vice mayor De’Andre Barnes is calling for an end to the violence.
“We have all these shootings with kids, involving kids, and people are number to it, because it’s something that happens on the regular here and it’s been happening for years,” Barnes said.
Hours before these two shootings, at 2:30 Friday - someone shot and killed a child on Berkley Avenue.
Barnes said he knows the kids who were shot. He said they played basketball with the Portsmouth City Sports Club, a nonprofit.
“One of the kids I heard he survived, I knew him," Barnes said. "He played in my program. But the 14-year-old that was killed yesterday, he actually played in my program, as well.”
Monica Atkins of Stop the Violence 757 is also decrying the gun violence.
“It’s like the age is getting younger and younger and younger," she said. “It has become the norm for people. You sit back and be like, ‘Well where’s the next shooting going to be?’”
Atkins said there are too many guns in communities, and she wants to see stricter laws.
“They are able to purchase as many firearms that they want to because there’s no stipulations on it. So certain laws within the cities, they need to change and they need to change rapidly,” she said.
Atkins said it’s up to everyone to play a role in stopping the root causes of crime.
“Just don’t wait until it knocks at your door," Atkins said. "Don’t allow death to knock at the door to want to be proactive in the community.”
Barnes said something similar.
“I like to say and I say it all the time – I think it’s the chickens coming home to roost," he said. "For a very long time we haven’t done what we’re supposed to be doing for our children and we haven’t done what we’re supposed to be doing for our adults.”
If you have information that can assist police in their investigations of these shootings, call the Portsmouth Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division at 757-393-8536 or submit a tip through the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.
This story will be updated.