Oceanfront shootings kill 2 people in Virginia
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Overnight shootings near the Atlantic oceanfront in Virginia Beach left two people dead and eight wounded in a scene described by authorities on Saturday as “very chaotic.”
Three men, ranging in age from 18 to 22, have been arrested and face charges that include felonious assault and reckless handling of a firearm, Virginia Beach police said in a statement Saturday.
The first shooting occurred shortly after 11 p.m. Friday along an outdoor strip of hotels, clubs and restaurants that was densely packed with people on one of the first warm days of the year.
Witness Akereia Drayton said Saturday that she was leaving a club Friday night after the shooting ended and saw “mass chaos” and many people running.
“People were literally falling over themselves,” Drayton said.
Investigators believe the first shooting stemmed from a fight involving a group of people, police said.
“Several individuals produced firearms and began shooting at each other, resulting in numerous people being wounded,” the police statement said.
Officers patrolling the area quickly responded, police said. But more gunfire followed several minutes later.
Police said they found a female bystander about a block away who died of injuries from a second shooting. Investigators believe the woman’s death was not related to the initial shooting, authorities said.
At about the same time, police said, a uniformed officer in that area “encountered an armed citizen” and fatally shot him.
A Virginia Beach officer was also struck by a vehicle, police said. He was treated and released from a hospital.
“We have a very chaotic incident, a very chaotic night,” Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate said.
A total of 10 people were hit by gunfire, including the two who died, according to police.
Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital spokesman Andrew Helquist said four people treated for gunshot wounds were in stable condition Saturday, and four others had been released.
Three men were charged in the initial shooting, police said. They were identified as Ahmon Jahree Adams, 22, of Chesapeake, Va.; Nyquez Tyyon Baker, 18, of Virginia Beach; and Devon Maurice Dorsey Jr., 20, of Virginia Beach.
Police said the three men were being held in a Virginia Beach jail. It’s unclear whether they’ve hired attorneys.
The bystander who died in the second shooting was Deshayla Harris, 28, of the nearby city of Norfolk, police said.
The man who was fatally shot by a police officer has been identified as Donovon Lynch, 25, of Virginia Beach. The officer has been placed on administrative leave, police said. He has been with the department for five years and is assigned to its special operations division.
Adrian Montgomery, a security guard who works at one of the oceanfront hotels, said the initial shooting occurred in an outdoor area where a lot of young people hang out and “try to talk to girls.”
Montgomery said a woman told a man that she didn’t want his phone number, which led to an altercation between him and another man.
An exchange of gunfire between the two men followed, Montgomery said, before more shots were fired by people who were friends with the shooters.
“At that point, it just became a shooting gallery,” Montgomery said. “Whoever had a gun and felt threatened fired. … [They] were pulling out guns like they’re cellphones.”
Montgomery said the people he saw get shot appeared to be innocent bystanders. One of them was his 17-year-old nephew, who had to have surgery.
Montgomery added that the Virginia Beach oceanfront, which includes a boardwalk, was packed with people who were shoulder-to-shoulder on a warm but tension-filled spring night.
“There was no wiggle room,” Montgomery said. “When you have no wiggle room, somebody is going to step on somebody. And somebody is going to try to be Mr. Tough Guy.”