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‘How can you do that to a child?’: Family wants answers after two grandchildren, uncle were shot

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — A Chesapeake woman is still looking for answers after her son was killed and two grandchildren were injured in a shooting Thursday night.

It was around 8:30 p.m. when the sound of gunshots outside Robin Deans’ Seaboard Avenue home caught her attention. 


“It was a madhouse,” Deans recalled. “It was crazy, it was really crazy.”

Deans’ two grandchildren, 11-year-old Anzella and her 16-year-old brother, were at a neighboring house trying to get his bike back.

That’s when Anzella said an adult told her, “We’re men we fight for what we want.” Their uncle, 46-year-old Phillip Scott, went over to help.

After that, Anzella said the situation escalated and she started hearing gunshots.

“I was running after my uncle and I was shot in the leg. I ran into the house saying ‘I got shot, I got shot,'” Anzella said.

Her uncle Scott, Deans’ son, was also shot. He later died from his injuries at a local hospital.

“He was just going down there to see what was going on,” said Deans. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“I had so much hope that he was gonna pull through. When he died it was like everything just left me,” she said.

Anzella’s teenage brother was shot as well. He’s still recovering at a local hospital.

The fourth shooting victim, 26-year-old John Caldarera, died at the scene. 10 On Your Side spoke with his mother, Anne Caldarera, on Friday.

“I go around the corner and my son is laying on the ground and he has a bullet wound in his chest, and he has his shirt over it, and I’m holding on to him. And I said ‘John, keep going, please don’t die, John please don’t go.’” 

Police said four people in total were shot that day. Anzella’s sister, Aaliyah, described the violence as senseless.

“It’s sad. How can you do that to a child? That could’ve been your child. It could’ve been a lot worse… It actually was worse. You took our uncle, you took everything from us.”

The incident remains under investigation. Police haven’t released any suspect information.

Those with information should call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP or submit a tip using the P3 Tips app on their Apple or Android device or at www.p3Tips.com.

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