NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Newport News police officers are investigating a shooting that left a teenager dead on Sunday night.
According to the Newport News Police Department, a boy was found with gunshot wounds in the 600 block of 34th Street around 9:36 p.m. He was brought to a local hospital, where he died.
The police confirmed Monday morning that he was a 16-year-old from Newport News, but haven't shared any suspect information yet.
Newport News resident Nicole Vaughan said the shooting happened just steps from her front door. She said several bullets hit the car that she parked on the street.
“All of a sudden I heard: pop, pop, pop, pop! I don’t even know how many shots it was,” Vaughan said. “It was too close to the house so we ducked. It really took me three or four seconds to really grasp what was happening.”
She said after things died down, she went outside to find the teen laying on the ground nearby and her car badly damaged.
“I didn’t even realize that there was a body laying in the driveway next door because the bushes are on our fence so we couldn’t see it,” Vaughan said. “Then I saw a lady cop run over to there and I thought she was looking for bullets but the whole time she was looking at a body.”
The shooting happened just down the street from a police station. The Newport News Police South Precinct sits right at the end of 34th Street, across Jefferson Avenue.
Vaughan said she’s saddened to learn someone so young died in a shooting not far from her front door.
“I didn’t really see him until they picked him up and put him in the stretcher,” she said. “But you could tell the life had already left his eyes. It was sad. It was so sad. You could tell it was a baby.”
Vaughan’s car was damaged in the shooting. Two windows are broken and several bullet holes mark the driver's side.
“It actually could have easily been my house because my car, I think, stopped the bullets from coming into my house,” Vaughan said. “If me and my daughter was in this car. We definitely... I know she definitely would have because she sits right here. I don’t even want to think about that.”
Police have not released any suspect information.
The investigation is ongoing. If you have any information that may help investigators, you can call the Crime Line at 1-888-562-5887. You can also submit a tip online at P3Tips.com.