NORFOLK, Va. — Gun violence rocks the City of Norfolk again. Police officers said several people are hurt and a man is dead, after two shootings since Thursday night.
The incidents happened hours apart, but the crime scenes unfolded just a few minutes from each other.
One of them was in the area of University Shoppes, across from the campus of Norfolk State University (NSU).
On Friday, university police visibly staged at the shopping plaza on Brambleton Avenue and Norfolk Police Department detectives canvassed the area to talk to neighbors, business owners, and store employees.
Investigators are trying to figure out what led to overnight gunfire, which landed four people in the hospital.
Deborah Cuffee, who told 13News Now she ministers in the area, is used to hearing about shootings. She promotes a message of peace and unity.
"Churches in this area need to work together, leaders need to come together, not just preachers and stuff like that but people who own these barber shops and people who own these nail salons, people who own all these businesses and stuff like that, we all need to come together," said Cuffee.
On Friday evening, a spokesperson from NSU gave the following statement to 13News Now.
"On August 18, 2023, around 2:30 am there was a report of shots fired in the area of the 7-Eleven located at the corner of Brambleton and Park Avenue. Officers with the Norfolk Police Department along with officers from the Norfolk State University Police Department responded to the area and confirmed the incident. Norfolk Police Department is the leading the investigation with the assistance of Norfolk State University Police Department. The preliminary investigation revealed that no students from Norfolk State University were injured nor involved in this incident. For further information, please contact the City of Norfolk Police Department."
A Norfolk police spokesperson said three men and one woman with non-life-threatening injuries arrived at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital (SNGH) in their own cars after the shooting.
The level 1 adult trauma center has had a busy year, considering incidents of community violence, motor vehicle crashes, burns, falls, and more.
Angela Parker, team coordinator with Sentara's Foresight program, said SNGH has already seen 277 patients hurt by gunshot wounds, so far in 2023.
"And we've had some pretty significant injuries," said Parker.
To put it in perspective, trauma teams reported treating a record 541 patients for gunshot wounds in 2022, 539 patients in 2021, and 466 in 2020 at SNGH.
The aforementioned Foresight program is designed as a hospital-based violence intervention. Through it, Parker explained how community health workers play a role in the healing process for survivors at the bedside and beyond the hospital stay.
"We're able to bridge those gaps of communication between the medical staff and our patients and their families," said Parker. "However, we also [...] go into what happened before coming into the hospital because if we know a little bit about that, then we can help to put the interventions in place to help them not be reinjured."
Furthermore, just one mile away and a few hours prior to the shooting across from NSU, another shooting killed one man and sent another to the hospital. Police said Eugene Thomas, 49, died.
The incident happened on East Brambleton Avenue, near Chapel Street at around 9:45 p.m. on Thursday. Officers in the area reported hearing gunshots and saw gunfire coming from a car.
They attempted to stop the car, a news release stated. However, the driver kept going, eventually stopping on East Olney Road.
Police arrested two men, Andre Davis, 20, and Arkeem Butcher, 24. They face several charges, including second-degree murder.