PORTSMOUTH, Va (WAVY) — Natasha Morgan still has the keys to her Southside Gardens apartment, but it is by no means her home.
Morgan and her daughter are essentially homeless — staying with friends and in hotels — after gunfire sent them running for cover.
Initially, she thought the noise outside her home on the night of June 27 was noise from fireworks. The noise was the all too familiar sound of gunfire.
“I said [to my daughter] crawl to me and the minute she crawled to me because I was already standing in the hallway — the bullet came through by her baseboard,” Morgan said.
That was just one of the close calls from the evening of June 27. WAVY-TV 10 counted a total of seven bullet holes upstairs and downstairs. The Morgans say a similar incident happened at their home in December.
Morgan, who suffers from Lupus, says it’s nearly impossible to sleep at night when she’s worried the next time there’s gunfire, her family won’t be as fortunate.
“When I’m in here, I’m walking all night — nervous, scared — wondering where the bullets are going to come through walls while I’m asleep,” said Morgan.
Residents in Portsmouth tell 10 On Your Side there’s an uptick in gunfire in the Southside.
On Jefferson Street alone this year, police have investigated at least nine cases of shots fired into homes and cars. WAVY-TV 10 has viewed the printed incident report from June 27, but police spokeswoman Sgt. Misty Holley said it appears the case was never entered into the police department’s database.
The violence affecting the Morgan family is not limited to Natasha’s home. Last spring her 71-year-old mother, who lives nearby, was injured while trying to escape bullets fired at her apartment unit. Charlie Morgan is an amputee and has several chronic conditions.
Morgan is trying to find a safer subsidized home for the entire family. Morgan says staying at home to avoid the coronavirus is not an option when her family members have to run for her lives to avoid a bullet.
“I’m fighting two wars; I’m fighting unforeseen demons — the bullets and COVID,” Morgan said.
Police ask that you call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP if you have information on Southside shootings.
