PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — A night of gun violence rattled two different Portsmouth communities the night of Saturday, Nov. 11.
Five people were shot in two separate shootings in the span of an hour. The first shooting took place after 11 p.m., when four people were shot on Commonwealth Avenue.
Founder of Give Back 2 Da Block, Darrell Redmond, was called to the scene.
“In the process of actually being there, I heard gunfire, and I heard some more gunshots,” Redmond said.
About 30 minutes after the first shooting, a man was shot and killed at the London Oaks Apartments. Redmond said he often does work in that area and told 10 On Your Side that what happened was heartbreaking.
“I had people that were calling me asking me was that their brother or is this that, so being there to be able to assist is a good thing, but actually watching a community being in turmoil at that moment — is unexplainable.”
He remembered where the deceased man’s body was located at the second shooting — in the middle of a playground.
“It makes me think about how some of those kids who saw it, that that is an everlasting, impactful, tragic situation for them to even be playing at a park, and then remembering somebody that they knew was murdered less than one to two steps away,” Redmond said.
Redmond said residents told him they just want to be safe. Many of them want to move out, or just want help learning how to cope with so much violence.
“We’re trying to get more resources in the city, get that mental health component inside of there, get more people trained to do the same violence reduction work inside communities,” Redmond said. “No, we aren’t magicians. We can’t make everything stop over time, but we can be more present inside communities.”
If you know anything about either of these shootings, call Portsmouth Police or use the P3 Tips app.
Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.
