Norfolk man charged with shooting infant
20-year-old is also accused of shooting four others in attack
NORFOLK — A 20-yearold Norfolk man was arrested, accused of shooting five people — including an infant — in an attack that sparked outrage from the city’s police chief and residents.
Norfolk police on Tuesday charged Kimahni Lovis Lankford with 10 felonies: five counts of malicious wounding and five counts of illegally using a gun.
Around 10:15 p.m. on Aug. 25, police went to the 800 block of East Princess Anne Road to check out a report of multiple gunshot victims. When officers got there, they found five: three men, ages 30, 25 and 24; a 22-year-old woman; and a 1-month-old girl.
The four adults were taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. The infant was taken to The Children Hospital of the King’s Daughters with life-threatening injuries.
Before Tuesday’s charges, Lankford already was being held in the Norfolk jail without bond on charges unrelated to the August shooting. He’s also charged with felony assault, gang participation and hiding or destroying evidence of a crime.
Detectives didn’t say why they believe Lankford opened fire that night and did not release any other details of the shooting.
The Aug. 25 shooting led Norfolk Police Chief Larry Boone to talk about a spike in violence last year. Even in a year that saw a 34% increase in homicides and a 28% increase in shootings, an infant getting shot and in critical condition stood out.
“We have a human being that has barely been on this Earth for 30 days and they are already a statistic of gun violence. What a horrible first impression of what life can be like in this world,” the chief said in a video released the next day.
“Unfortunately, in some cases, it appears that the community has become desensitized to this type of shooting,” he added.