NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — Police are investigating after a man was shot and killed Monday night in Newport News.
Officials tweeted Tuesday morning that they responded to a shooting in the 600 block of Ridley Circle just before 11 p.m. on Monday.
Police found a 21-year-old man, Michael Marquice Samuels, of the 600 block of Ridley Circle, at the scene with multiple gunshot wounds.
Police confirmed he died shortly after being taken to a local hospital.
“I’ve seen the young man walking around, talking to his friends. [I] always encouraged him to get involved in different things that we had going on,” said Yugonda Sample Jones.
She works with a lot of the youth in Newport News in hopes of setting them on the right path. One of those kids she worked with was killed last night.
“When I got the phone call this morning that he did lose his life, it hurt,” she said.
Yugonda said she saw promise in Samuels.
“Maybe if we had him in a program and he was doing some work, that could have made a difference,” she said.
Morris Jacobs lives in the same neighborhood and says his faith in progress for the community lessens with each gunshot.
“I heard rapid fire, sounded like someone had an assault rifle out here. I know it was about eight or 10 shots that went off back-to-back,” he said.
“We’re stepping backwards. We all need to do this together. It can’t just be one or two of us. We all need to band together to stop this violence ’cause it’s just sad,” he added.
On the other hand, Jones said although they’ve lost someone, this is an opportunity to remind others why they have to make a change.
“We have to come together regardless of race, class, titles — we have to come together. It’s important for our babies because our babies are watching us,” she said.
“That age group from 16 to 24 is so important because they may not have been exposed to different opportunities. So, just being able to show them something different [can help],” she said.
There is no suspect information at this time.
Stay with WAVY.com for updates.
