At least 2 dead, 8 injured after shootings in Virginia Beach

Police are investigating multiple shootings in Virginia Beach that left at least two people dead and eight others injured late Friday.

The Virginia Beach Police Department said in a press release early Saturday that officers were patrolling the 1900 block of Atlantic Avenue when they heard “multiple gunshots” shortly after 11 p.m.

Officers then located “several gunshot wound victims,” with eight being transported to the hospital for injuries, some of which police said ranged from “serious to life-threatening.” 

Police added that one officer was also transported to the hospital with minor injuries after he was struck by a car, though his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, according to local NBC affiliate WAVY-TV.  

While police were responding to the first shooting, officers heard additional shots fired nearby, which they said led to an “individual being confronted by a uniformed Virginia Beach police officer, resulting in a police intervention shooting.”

Police said Saturday that the suspect in this shooting, which is believed to be related to the first, was eventually shot and killed by the officer. 

Police identified one “adult female victim” who died as a result of gunshot wounds, though police Chief Paul Neudigate said that she appeared to have been shot in a separate shooting unrelated to the first two shootings, WAVY-TV reported. 

Authorities said they are still actively investigating the attacks, with several crime scene areas blocking off roads in the area. 

Over @sentarahealth Virginia Beach General…many family members and loved ones wait out in the parking lot, desperate to get some information. Talked to a cousin of a man who was shot. He says “they won’t even tell me if he’s here.” @WAVY_News pic.twitter.com/wXNaIrsRYQ

— Brett Hall (@BrettHNews) March 27, 2021

The incidents come amid a series of mass shootings in recent weeks across the country, which have prompted renewed conversations among lawmakers and elected officials on gun reform legislation. 

Earlier this month, a shooting spree at multiple Atlanta spas left eight people dead, including six women of Asian descent, prompting increased concerns from many amid a spike in anti-Asian violence across the country during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Investigators have not yet officially named a motive for the attack. 

In Boulder, Colo., on Monday, a shooting at a King Soopers grocery store left 10 people dead. 

Police said that the suspect in the Colorado shooting, 21-year-old Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, used an AR-15 assault rifle that he had purchased just six days before the attack.