VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Sunday night turned violent across Virginia Beach. Police said five men were shot in five hours in three different locations. Two of them died.
One of those incidents happened at the Oceanfront on 30th Street, by the Neptune statue.
Two weeks ago, we spoke with concerned restaurant owners at Ocean Eddie’s Seafood. They were thinking about closing early, and now they are making that official.
“We walked across the street and like 30 to 40 gunshots went off,” said Ocean Eddie’s Line Cook Aaron Barrera. “It didn’t stop for like three minutes.”
Barrera, 18, said he and coworkers were headed to their car after closing on June 9, when they heard gunshots just two blocks away.
“I lost my hat, I didn’t care about it, didn’t really matter,” Barrera said. “My friends just took off, we were scared. That was not ok. That was not a normal thing at all.”
That shooting happened on 17th Street.
Police have reported eight shooting incidents in Virginia Beach, 14 victims with two deaths, since the start of June.
Fearing for staff safety, Manager Larry Spruill said Ocean Eddie’s is now closing at 9 p.m. instead of 10 p.m for the rest of the summer.
“History has brought us a little change of times and it has gotten a little rough down here,” Spruill said.
He said many young workers walk from the pier restaurant to cars parked beyond Pacific Avenue.
“I was scared for them,” Spruill said.
He is also a high school teacher in Virginia Beach.
“Most of the managers here are all teachers,” Spruill said. “They are our kids, so we like to take care of them.”
Staff is also carpooling and using the buddy system.
“From now on we always walk out with a group, no matter what,” Barrera said.
The Virginia Beach Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #8 President Jason Karangelen said the spike in crime already this summer is unusual.
“I think with the combination of the pandemic, the quarantine and the recent spike in racial tensions people are at an all-time high level of frustration, and don’t know how to process it so they lash out at others,” Karangelen said in a statement.
Spruill hopes this violent track ends soon.
“It’s still summertime in Virginia Beach,” Spruill said. “We just need to figure out how to have a safe summertime in Virginia Beach.”
VB FOP Lodge #8 President Karangelen also said their message to the community is “One of patience, understanding, and people coming together with police to fix these issues instead of adding to the already abundant amount of problems."