SUFFOLK, Va. — New details are emerging, days after a shooting rattled a Suffolk neighborhood situated near Col. Fred Cherry Middle School.
On Saturday, Dec. 30, city officials said an incident on Oakglen Drive led a police officer to shoot a minor accused of holding weapons. Family members told 13News Now the girl is 15 years old and remains in the hospital, as of New Year's Day.
Neighbors 13News Now spoke with expressed sadness and shock by the whole ordeal, with one describing it as "emotional" and others putting the police response and force used that morning into question.
An internal affairs or administrative investigation and criminal investigation are both underway, said Jennifer Moore, a spokeswoman for the City of Suffolk.
On Monday, Moore also confirmed that police body-worn cameras were on and rolling — and that the footage is under review.
Through his home surveillance cameras, a man, who wanted to stay anonymous, recalled officers pulling up before noon.
"Probably two minutes later, you hear three shots, pow, pow, pow. It happened so fast, I was just like, 'Wow,'" said the neighbor.
When officers arrived, they said they found a girl holding weapons.
The teenager's mother told 13News Now a neighbor tried telling officers the girl suffers with mental health issues, adding that her daughter was going through an episode and was holding a knife when police responded.
Moore said an officer made "multiple attempts" to de-escalate the situation, but the girl "approached the officer in a threatening manner with the weapons." It was at that moment, according to Moore, when another officer fired their gun, injuring the girl.
The mother said she learned of the shooting through a neighbor who called her with news no mother wants to hear – that her daughter was shot.
"It was just sad," said resident Tammy Dupree. "No parent has to go through that, on a holiday. And I'm sad the little girl is going through what she's going through. I don't think she deserved the shooting at all, at all."
Officials said medics took the girl to the hospital in "serious condition" on Saturday. It was not made clear what her latest condition was at the hospital on Jan. 1.
Neighbors like Dupree wonder if police could've used less violent force.
"You could have just tased her ... I don't think you had to do all that. But at the same time, I wasn't there. I don't know how the threat was," said Dupree.
A woman who identified herself as the teen's grandmother told 13News Now she believes Suffolk police acted on "poor training," and that a mental health specialist should have responded to the scene.
Due to the ongoing investigation, Moore couldn't share whether officers tried to use a taser. Moore said she also couldn't comment on the pushback surrounding the police response, citing the ongoing investigation.
The officer who fired their gun is currently on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the investigations.