NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A 15-year-old is dead and an 18-year-old is behind bars after a weekend shooting in Norfolk’s Young Terrace neighborhood.
Norfolk Police said officers responded to the 500 block of E. Brambleton Avenue around 10 p.m. and found the young man suffering from a gunshot wound. The teen was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police arrested 18-year-old Tayvon Black and charged him with second degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Neighbors tell 10 On Your Side they are tired of the violence.
“How many more are we going to lose before we can get it, that we need to just stop it altogether,” said Jimmie Outlaw, who knew the 15-year-old and thought of him as a little brother. “He was part of my family. I’m broken.”
Outlaw acted like a mentor to the teen, tried to help him and had planned to give him a bandana as a gift. However, the teen’s life was cut short by violence, which seems endless to Outlaw.
“It’s easy for this to be my son,” said Outlaw. “You know, somebody else’s son, somebody else’s daughter. You know it could have been me.”
Outlaw hopes the teen’s death serves a greater purpose. He said, “I’m hoping and I’m praying that it will stop at him. Enough is enough, enough is enough. Y’all killing innocent children that don’t have nothing to do with nothing. We just need to stand up to it.”
This shooting comes less than one month after a 13-year-old was shot and killed in the same neighborhood.
“He was my family,” said Outlaw. “Even though we didn’t come from the same mother, that’s my little brother. I love him, I love him.”
Police said Black is being held at Norfolk City Jail without bond.
Norfolk Police Chief Larry Boone addressed the recent youth gun violence in a letter to the public Monday. In it, he talked about how youth are getting the guns.
Last year, I examined over 700 firearms recovered as a result of criminal investigations in the City of Norfolk. One common denominator when researching the gun was that it was legally purchased before getting into the hands of the shooter. In most cases, the person who purchased the firearm and the person who used it in a crime had no ties to one another. So how are these guns getting into the hands of our youth? Simply put, irresponsible gun owners. As you know, our youth cannot legally purchase a handgun so they’re getting them from homes, unlocked vehicles, and other illegal means. Properly securing your firearm reduces the chances a juvenile will use a gun to make a split-second decision that changes everyone’s life. Gun violence is not all about politics, and I will not invest energy in speculation about future gun legislation. What is more compelling, is what WE as a community can do in the present to affect gun violence.
Norfolk Police Chief Larry D. Boone
Chief Boone said he is counting on the community to help change the direction of a young person’s life by being “available, valuable and visible” to them.