VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Virginia Beach Police said ten people were shot in separate Oceanfront incidents that happened close together Friday night, and two of the people died.
Police confirmed that 29-year-old Deshayla E. Harris from Norfolk was shot and killed in the second incident that occurred in the area of the 1900 block of Pacific Avenue on Friday, March 26. They said she was a bystander, likely struck by stray gunfire.
Donovon W. Lynch, 25, from Virginia Beach was shot and killed by an officer. This occurred in that same area of the second shooting.
In a press conference Saturday night, Police Chief Paul Neudigate said a gun was found in the vicinity of that officer-involved shooting, but there was not yet any evidence that showed the gun belonged to Lynch. He said the officer who shot Lynch was wearing a body camera, but it wasn't turned on at the time.
In an early statement from the Virginia Beach Police Department, officials said in the first incident (which officers believe was isolated), several people were shooting at each other, and "numerous" people got hurt.
The first calls about the initial shooting, that occurred on Atlantic Avenue at 20th Street, came in just after 11:20 p.m.
Three men were arrested on multiple charges in connection to the first shooting that happened in the 2000 block of Atlantic Ave:
- 22-year-old Ahmon Jahree Adams from Chesapeake
- 18-year-old Nyquez Tyyon Baker from Virginia Beach
- 20-year-old Devon Maurice Dorsey Jr. from Virginia Beach
Police said the three men were charged with seven counts of felonious assault, use of a firearm in commission of a felony and reckless handling of a firearm. They are being held at Virginia Beach City Jail.
According to the police investigation, a group of people got into some kind of dispute which resulted in a physical fight. This was when multiple individuals started shooting at one another.
After the first incident occurred, officers said they heard more gunshots coming from the area of the 1900 block of Pacific Avenue. It was the second shooting that happened nearby, where a woman was killed. In that same area, an officer shot and killed a man who police said was armed.
The same night, a police officer was hit by a car and hospitalized, and several people were arrested.
Officers told 13News Now there were "at least two" different scenes. Bruce Nedelka with the Virginia Beach Department of Emergency Medical Services confirmed several people had been hurt in the shooting.
At 1:15 a.m., Virginia Beach police said there were "several victims with possibly life-threatening injuries."
Police asked people to avoid the Oceanfront area between 17th and 22nd streets.
At a press conference at 1:35 a.m. Saturday, Neudigate gave a summary of what happened.
He said there were eight victims at the first scene, and at the second scene, near the intersection of 20th Street and Pacific Avenue, a person confronted a police officer and was killed in a police-intervention shooting.
There was a second person who died, but that person was not part of the police-intervention shooting. Neudigate said he didn't believe the person was part of the original shooting, either.
The chief also said an officer was hit by a car and went to the hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Neudigate confirmed that "several" people had been detained from the area and were in custody, but he didn't say they had been charged with any involvement in the shootings.
"We have several people that were stopped," he said. "What their involvement in this incident is, we don't know yet."
13News Now is waiting to hear the official condition of the multiple victims involved in the shootings.
Around 2:30 a.m. Saturday, family members of at least one person who had been shot were waiting outside Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital.
A source, who said his son was one of the victims, was waiting for him to come out of surgery.