NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Lauren Rodgers was with her friend, Bradley Kortbawi, when she said she watched another man shoot him in the head early Saturday morning in Norfolk.
Friends called the 44-year-old Kortbawi the unofficial mayor of Ghent, and, after dropping off friends early Saturday morning following a night on the town, he was talking with one of those friends, Rodgers, on Core Avenue.
“We were out front talking in the yard, and my upstairs neighbor, who is hanging out by this tree over here, overheard us talking and thought that we used racial slang, which we didn’t,” Rodgers said.
Rodgers said Kortbawi has been married to Black women and has two Black sons.
What happened next is extremely disturbing and graphic.
“This guy was around my height, 5-foot-8 or so, and he was in Brad’s face,” Rodgers said. “And Brad just turned around and is like, ‘Do we have a problem?’ And then in one action, the guy pulls a gun from his pocket, puts it [on] Brad’s head and shoots him without hesitation.”
“Brad dropped dead and died immediately right in front of me,” she said.
The neighbor, 56-year-old Vandes Jackson, while allegedly holding a smoking gun, reportedly had this to say. “And I go, “You just shot my friend,” Rodgers said. “And he looks at me and he goes, ‘Yeah, so call the cops.'”
Rodgers fled to her apartment, where she later told police about interactions with her neighbor. Rodgers said it appears he was unemployed.
“He only moved in a month ago,” Rodgers said. “The day he moved in, I introduced myself and helped him carry a load up to his apartment. And since then, supposedly, he’s knocked on my door while I was at work for me to, like, I don’t know, hang out or something. I work nights, so I never knew that he was knocking on my door.”
Police confirmed Jackson remained on the scene.
Jackson has been charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He is being held without bond at Norfolk City Jail.
The victim’s family in Georgia has established a GoFundMe account to help with funeral expenses.