HAMPTON, Va. — A violent weekend across Hampton comes as the city closes on a violent first quarter for the calendar year.
This weekend, three shootings resulted in three people being hospitalized from across city neighborhoods. A 29-year-old man is hospitalized and in critical condition, according to Hampton Division officials, after a light-colored car opened fire on him outside a home on Breckenridge Court. Family members of the victim told 13News Now on Monday he was awaiting surgery, but that he had been able to communicate with his family.
The victims of two other shootings -- one on Sacramento Drive and another on Lasalle Avenue -- are hospitalized but in stable condition.
“Taking a little bit of a broader lens, the first quarter of 2023 has been fairly awful," Hampton Police Chief Mark Talbot told 13News Now.
According to Talbot, there are a total of 29 fatal and non-fatal shooting victims in the city in 2023. Of those are 14 homicides, which is roughly double the amount of homicides the city saw in 2022 over the same period of time.
"The spike we’ve seen in terms of that full-time period is like what we saw over the weekend," he said.
While motives are still unknown in the three recent incidents, Talbot acknowledged that generally speaking the genesis of the shootings are among young men, where a disagreement or dispute is leading to "gunplay."
This comes almost two months after Chief Talbot noted January as the single deadliest month he’s seen in his time serving as chief since 2021.
“Average age of our victims this year, about 30 years old. Average age of our suspects is 25, slightly older than what I’ve seen before in my career," he said.
Talbot also noted that four of the city’s homicides are actually residents of another locality, which he says is higher than what we’d normally see at this point in the year.