3 people, including Virginia Beach police officer, injured in shooting at Newtown Road shopping center
Two people were hospitalized and a police officer was treated for minor injuries after a shooting Thursday afternoon outside a shopping center on Newtown Road.
The shooting happened around 3:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Newtown Baker Crossing shopping center in the 600 block of Newtown Road.
Virginia Beach Deputy Chief Sean Adams said a uniformed officer conducted a traffic stop on a stolen vehicle. The two occupants of the car were armed and they and the officer drew guns, he said. There was a struggle and the officer fired.
Police did not describe the nature of the injuries sustained by the vehicle’s occupants. But police said the officer was treated for minor injuries at the scene and released. The two in the car were transported to a hospital for their injuries. Police had no word on their conditions Thursday evening.
There was a heavy police presence at the shopping center as officials gathered evidence, which Adams said included video surveillance footage. The center of the investigation appeared to be a vehicle parked in front of a row of shops toward the end of the shopping center.
While much of the parking lot was blocked off with police tape, several establishments remained open in the hours following the shooting. Employees and patrons could occasionally be seen poking their heads out the doors of the businesses, observing police working the scene.
Marr, an Ocean Seafood employee who only gave his first name, said he was preparing food when he heard two gunshots. He said he immediately walked out of the restaurant and saw a Black male on the ground.
“It all happened so fast,” Marr said.
Marcy Spencer was getting her hair done at a salon in the shopping center at the time of the shooting. She said she initially heard screaming. But what she believes were four gunshots drew her from her salon chair.
A Black male, Spencer said, could be seen on the ground from the door of the business.
“I could see nobody touched that child for 20 minutes,” said Spencer, a medical assistant who said the male had a chest wound. “I have a problem with that.”
Spencer said even if the occupants of the vehicle had a weapon, pulling a gun should be the officer’s last resort.
“I understand we have to obey the police and police have a dangerous job. But this violence has got to stop,” Spencer said, shaking her head. “We are losing young men left and right, especially in the Black community.”
Caitlyn Burchett, caitlyn.burchett@virginiamedia.com
