NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — UPDATE: Officers have arrested a suspect in connection to the shooting on Old Oyster Point Road early Tuesday morning.
According to the Newport News Police Department, 38-year-old Derek Williams was taken into custody on Tuesday. He was charged with second-degree murder, shooting from a vehicle, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and felony use of a firearm. in the death of Aaron West.
NNPD Chief Steve Drew said the quick arrest was thanks to the use of technology and involvement of citizens.
ORIGINAL STORY: A man is dead following a Newport News shooting in the early hours of Tuesday.
Newport News police were called to 800 Old Oyster Point Road near the intersection of J Clyde Morris Boulevard for reports of a shooting just after 12:45 a.m.
When officers arrived they found a man outside suffering from a gunshot wound.
He was taken to the hospital where he later died. The victim was identified as Aaron Paul West, a 30-year-old Gloucester man.
Police confirm the shooting happened in the parking lot of Hoss’s Deli.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, officers surrounded the parking lot of Hoss’s Deli with crime scene tape.
A man who did not want to appear on camera said- as he stood across the street at a nearby gas station he noticed several people in the area and heard gunshots.
“I heard six rounds: pow, pow, pow, pow, pow, pow,” Richard Gayles said. “It ain’t no joke around here. At night it gets dangerous. It gets real dangerous.”
The investigation stretched for hours. As officers canvassed the parking lot of the restaurant and the gas station next door, a tow truck removed a dark-colored sedan from the parking lot.
Yazzmin Su lives nearby. She said she didn’t hear or see what happened but noticed several police cars outside the restaurant as she drove home Tuesday morning.
“All I saw was lights,” Su said. “I was coming home like 1 or 2 o’clock last night and all I seen was like hella cop cars down there so I don’t really know what’s going on. I was kind of weirded out because I’ve never seen that many down there.”
During daylight hours, detectives returned to the scene. They walked around the restaurant and the gas station looking for information.
“I’ve seen like cops come in and out but I’ve never seen anything that bad,” Su said.
People in the area say while they’re surprised by the shooting, crime is an ongoing concern.
“It’s not the community. It’s all the riffraff that comes here,” Gayles said.
People with information about the incident can anonymously call the Crime Line at 1–888–562–5887 or online using P3 Tips.