Hampton Mayor Donnie Tuck and Police Chief Terry Sult addressed a number of shootings that took place in the city recently.
Tuck and Sult, along with Hampton City Manager Mary Bunting, held a news conference Monday in the auditorium of Hampton Police Academy on Butler Farm Road.
There have been several shootings in the city recently, including two deadly ones.
"This will not be tolerated in Hampton," Tuck said.
On Sunday (May 10), someone tried to rob a man who was walking near Shell Road and Dare Avenue. During the attempt, he shot the 21-year-old.
Reginald Jenkins, Jr. died after a shooting May 9 at East Pembroke Avenue and Old Buckroe Road. Officers arrested his cousin, Sean McNeil, in connection to the murder.
A shooting near the Coliseum Central area of Hampton on May 6 left a 19-year-old man hurt. He showed up at the hospital after he was hit by gunfire. He told police he was running in the 200 block of Marcella Rd. when the shooting happened.
Hours later (on May 7), there was a shooting in the 200 block of Culotta Drive in the Tidemill Farms neighborhood. An 18-year-old man said he was outside when someone in a passing car started shooting and hit him.
Officers found Ricky Devon Brooks, Jr. of Newport News dead inside a car on May 5. The car crashed into a tree on Sacramento Drive after someone shot Brooks.
Police said a 17-year-old girl was hurt in a drive-by shooting that took place on May 4.
On April 27, there was a shooting on Juanita Drive that came during a fight.
"We’re not going to tolerate these shootings and activity in our community," Sult said. "We’re taking each of these offenses seriously."
He added that there had been 12 murders in the city as of May 11.
In addressing other crimes, the chief explained that because of the coronavirus pandemic, Hampton Police Division had to issue summonses for cases in which they normally would have made an arrest. Sult said the division returned to its normal protocols Monday.
The Chief said the reason behind the relaxed approach was to make sure that the inmate population was protected, as well as the community and police officers.