PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Since the beginning of 2024, 19 people have been shot in the city of Portsmouth. That's according to our count based on press releases sent by the Portsmouth Police Department.
Six of those 19 people have died either at the scene or later in the hospital.
Just between Friday and Saturday, two men were killed and another injured in three separate shootings.
Police say someone shot 25-year-old Arthur Harris around 2:15 Friday afternoon. That happened on Augustine Circle.
In a separate incident, 19-year-old Ahlessha Sykes is now in custody after Portsmouth police say she killed a 23-year-old man around the same time Friday. Police are calling that shooting on Frederick Boulevard domestic-related. Sykes is now charged with murder, among other charges.
On Saturday, Portsmouth police said a man arrived at a hospital with a gunshot wound in his upper body. They said that the incident happened on High Street near the Martin Luther King off-ramp.
Earlier in the week, a fight broke out inside of a Food Lion on London Boulevard. That led to a man pulling out a gun, a striking two people with a single shot.
In January, four people were shot during what neighbors described as a fight in the street. Two of them ultimately died-- 18-year-old Ameerah Green and 42-year-old Earl Martin Sr. Portsmouth police arrested 35-year-old Harold Martin a month later.
A 15-year-old boy was also shot and killed in January in the Olde Town part of Portsmouth.
Also in January, two men arrived at Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center in a vehicle seen riddled with bullet holes and shattered windows. Johnny Burden, 37, ultimately died from his injuries.
Over the last few weeks, 13News Now has heard from numerous neighbors and witnesses in the aftermath.
"I said, somebody just got shot. He said how do you know? I said because I heard ten gunshots, and there's a guy lying in front of my house," said one neighbor, who saw the scene on Augustine Circle Friday.
Tiairra Shelton heard the argument leading up to the Greenway Court East shooting in January.
"I can hear men's voices, I can hear women's voices and you can kind of hear when somebody starts pushing and shoving each other, even while they are yelling, so I'm just like okay it's getting serious out there," she said.
Prince Brown remembers the aftermath that same night.
"He was screaming out on the floor from the injury and then police came and flooded the street."
Neighbors like Rashad Whitehead say it has to stop.
"Put the guns down. Give these kids something to do," he said.
Portsmouth Police Chief Stephen Jenkins has said overall, violent crime dropped last year by 2.5 percent. He is aiming for a 15 percent decrease this year and hopes to do that by hiring more officers.
He has also said the department is working to expand technology. He wants to increase Flock safety cameras around the city and expand gunshot detection to another three square miles.
"To all come together, understand what the problem is and to be able to address those things collaboratively," Jenkins told the community during a recent crime forum.
That’s where ‘Portsmouth United’ comes in. Jenkins calls it a community-based approach to reduce gun violence.
The goal is for law enforcement and community members to work together on intervention and prevention programs.
To hear more about ‘Portsmouth United,’ you can join an information meeting this Thursday at 6pm. It will be held in the Portsmouth Police Department auditorium at 206 High Street.