UPDATE: Dwight Bennett was sentenced in Norfolk General District Court on Sept. 28, 2023 on the charges of carrying a loaded firearm in public and shooting in a public place. He was sentenced to two years on those charges, with all of the time suspended. Bennett will be on unsupervised probation.
Previous coverage:
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – When Tessa Robinson took her two young kids to Target on North Military Highway for some last minute Mother’s Day shopping, she never expected what happened next.
“Some people came in screaming, ‘there’s a shooter in the parking lot!'” she said.
“My heart stopped,” Robinson said. “My son was one aisle over looking at overpriced baseball cards. I grabbed my daughter’s hand, dropped the skirt I was looking at, got my son and started running. He asked if he was going to die.”
Police say Dwight Bennett, 21, fired his gun outside the store after a verbal fight. He left the parking lot before police got there, but they quickly caught up with him on Marne Avenue near Chesapeake Boulevard.
Pierre Kalyandjian was with his wife and daughter in the parking lot around 10:20 a.m. Sunday, when he heard commotion.
“Next thing we hear is the alarm go off, and we see people running out,” he said. “There was a lady standing in the parking lot saying, ‘Where’s my family? Where’s my family?'”
Police said the shooting appeared to be a domestic incident, but that doesn’t make Tessa Robinson feel any better.
“I’m so angry this is my kids’ reality,” she said.
“We have to redefine what ‘lucky’ looks like in America,” she said. “It shouldn’t be that we didn’t get shot. It was Mother’s Day, and we’re supposed to be doing fun brunch and crafts. Instead, it was running for our lives thinking there was an active shooter in Target.”
Bennett was arrested and charged with carrying a loaded firearm, discharging a firearm in public, brandishing and reckless handling. He’s due in court next month.
The investigation is still ongoing.
Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.
