HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — A .40 caliber gun was found in a hospital bathroom days after a 12-year-old girl was fatally shot in her Hampton bedroom, according to new court documents.
The suspect, identified in court documents as D.C., is seen on security camera footage going in and out of the girl’s bedroom. At one point, D.C. dropped the .40 caliber gun in the hall and kicked it into the girl’s bedroom.
A cartridge case was on the floor, but D.C. picked it up before walking out of the camera’s view. A .40 caliber cartridge case was later found in the suspect’s pocket, but the firearm was missing.
Court documents say the gun was missing when officers arrived on the scene.
Nearly two hours after the shooting, D.C. was transported to Sentara CarePlex Hospital in Hampton due to a medical issue while officers were on scene.
Two days later, on April 25, a maintenance worker found the gun in a hospital restroom near the emergency room. Court documents say it was found inside the toilet seat cover dispenser.
The gun was recovered by officers and later identified as a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson.
Detectives obtained security footage from the hospital and learned that the suspect used the restroom where the gun was found on April 23 while being treated in the emergency room.
Police tell 10 On Your Side that the shooting happened on April 23 in Hampton’s Avalon townhomes community. It was initially believed that the girl shot herself, but police have since called it a homicide.
She died less than 10 minutes after medics arrived on the scene.
Hampton police say a 16-year-old male was there and identified himself as the victim’s brother. He’s referred to in court documents as “DLC” and he told police that someone named “Junior,” who had dated the victim, had made a threatening phone call to him. According to court documents, “DLC” and “D.C.” appear to be the same person.
Junior was in the neighborhood, about a mile from Buckroe Beach.
Police say DLC initially told them he went out the back door of the townhome and Junior shot at him. DLC went back inside and upstairs to his sister’s bedroom. As brother and sister were looking out the window Junior fired again, this time striking the 12-year-old girl.
But police say DLC then changed that story.
This time, DLC told them he had fired at Junior when he was outside downstairs, not the other way around.
According to police, DLC admitted to having a gun, threw it out the window before police arrived, and called a friend to come and pick it up.
The house is equipped with Ring cameras with audio and video. A police affidavit says a single shot was heard at 11:20 a.m., followed by “a female screaming as if in fear.” DLC and his sister are heard talking at 11:21 a.m. At 11:25 a.m., DLC exits the bedroom and a black and silver gun is lying on the floor. A cartridge casing is on the hallway floor that hadn’t been there before.
Two minutes later, the call came into Hampton police dispatch from a male that a female had shot herself.
The investigation is ongoing.