NORFOLK, Va. — Hampton Roads has faced a harrowing week of violence. In less than a week, police in Hampton, Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Franklin responded to shootings that left two people dead and several others, most of them teenagers, seriously injured.
The most recent shooting happened late Thursday night in Norfolk. Virginia State Police say a silver SUV carrying five teenagers was fired on while driving along I-64 near the Military Highway exit. The vehicle crashed, and a teen in the back seat was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
That case was only the latest in a series of violent incidents:
- Sunday: A man was shot outside a Zaxby’s in Hampton.
- Later Sunday: Norfolk police responded to a shooting on Chesapeake Boulevard, injuring one person.
- Monday: A double shooting in Hampton left 19-year-old Kyree Staton dead and a 17-year-old wounded.
- Wednesday: A 17-year-old was critically injured on Seaboard Avenue in Chesapeake, prompting a nearby school lockdown.
- Thursday afternoon: Just hours before the interstate shooting, a woman was killed, and a man was injured in Franklin.
Law enforcement in each city is still asking the public to come forward with information. But while investigators work to solve the cases, the emotional toll of this violence is already weighing heavily on Hampton Roads.
“We don’t feel safe as a community”
Dariya Biarozkina, a licensed professional counselor with Thriveworks in Virginia Beach, said repeated exposure to violence can have a lasting impact on residents’ mental health…