10 People Shot, 2 Fatally, in Virginia Beach, Police Say
At least 10 people were shot, two of them fatally, during what the police called a “chaotic” night of violence in Virginia Beach on Friday, with two apparently unrelated cases of gunfire within blocks of each other.
Officers were called to a shooting on Atlantic Avenue at 20th Street in the oceanfront resort area at about 11:20 p.m., the police said on Saturday.
A group of people were involved “in some type of conflict that resulted in a physical fight,” the police said. “At some point during the physical altercation, several individuals produced firearms and began shooting at each other, resulting in numerous people being wounded.”
Eight people were taken to the hospital with serious or life-threatening wounds, the police said.
Several minutes later, as officers were managing the initial crime scene and the crowd that had gathered, officers heard additional gunshots nearby. Officers found a woman who had been shot at 19th Street, near Pacific Avenue. She died at the scene, the police said.
The authorities said they did not believe the two shootings were linked.
While officers were responding to the second call, an officer “encountered an armed citizen, which resulted in a police-involved shooting,” the police said. That person, a man, died at the scene.
Officials did not identify the man or the officer who shot him. The officer was part of the Virginia Beach Police Department’s special operations division and had been with the department for five years, the police said.
“What you can see is that we have a very chaotic incident, a very chaotic night in the beach,” he said. “Many different crime scenes.”
Also, at some point during the chaos, an officer was struck by a vehicle. He was taken to a hospital and has since been released, the police said.
The police did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment on Saturday.
Virginia Beach was the site of a mass shooting in May 2019, when a longtime public utilities employee opened fire on his co-workers with a handgun. He killed 12 people and injured several others. He died after an extended shootout with the police.
Mike Baker, Maria Cramer and Christopher Mele contributed reporting.
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