NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Three days after two people were killed in a shooting on Granby Street, Norfolk Police Chief Larry Boone held a press conference to discuss increasing police presence and the latest into the investigation.
During a Downtown Norfolk Civic League meeting Monday night, Boone said the shooting started after an argument broke out over a spilled drink.
Maurice Jenkins, the father of Sierra Jenkins who was one of the victims of Saturday’s early morning shooting, says he was livid when he found out about how the shooting started.
“Man, that just makes me so mad,” said Jenkins. “You had plenty of time to think about how you were going to react to this and you still decided to pull out a gun and shoot into a crowd of people and kill innocent people over this.”
With many questions about the investigation — including the number of suspects — still left unanswered, Boone says he’s working with city leaders to increase police presence on Granby Street.
“We don’t want to look like the military and that we’re occupying Granby Street, but we need to find a healthy balance so folks will feel comfortable moving about and those that come with bad intentions will feel uncomfortable,” said Boone.
One way includes bringing in officers from other units to increase their presence on the weekends, something they’ve done in the past.
“What we basically did was we increased our presence and at closing time, we kind of ushered people to their vehicles. We didn’t allow them to hang around,” he said.
Boone expressed interest in ShotSpotter technology that pinpoints the sound of gunfire, but said he’d prefer technology with a camera so they’d be able to identify the shooter as well.
Right now, there’s no suspect information in Saturday’s deadly shooting and Boone says he believes there aren’t any security cameras in the area.
With it being crowded the night shots rang out, however, he has faith that someone will step up and speak out.
“At some point, someone will talk. As I said last night, considering where the incident took place, somebody knows who that shooter is or shooters,” he said.
Boone would not comment on other details of the incident because the investigation is still ongoing. That means questions about a suspect, how many suspects were involved, and how many shots were fired remain left unanswered.
However, Boone feels following illegal guns could better combat gun violence in Hampton Roads.
“If we want to stop gun violence in Hampton Roads, follow the illegal guns. Nobody focuses on that. You follow the illegal guns, it will be impacted tremendously,” he said.
The Hampton Roads Black Caucus recently launched a gun buyback initiative to get firearms off the streets. Hours after the fatal Granby Street shooting, the organization held an event at Calvary Revival Church.
The group planned the event prior to the shooting, but HRBC leaders say the mission is more important now than ever.
“To create a safer environment and a safer community for our citizens,” said Ron Taylor, Hampton Roads Black Caucus president.
People of all ages turned in firearms and ammunition to get them out of their homes and off of the street.
“No questions asked. Just come and drop it off and get a gift card,” Taylor stated.
More than 30 firearms were collected at Saturday’s event.
“We’re trying to get all stakeholders involved in the community, the civic league, our police department, our law enforcement agencies and especially our elected officials. We may not be able to eliminate it all but we can reduce it,” Taylor explained.
The HRBC is plans to hold another gun buyback event this summer in Portsmouth. Taylor says the goal is to hold an event in each city.
