NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A Norfolk man is dead following a shooting on Mariners Way early Friday morning.
Norfolk police say the shooting happened around 4 a.m. in the 500 block of Mariners Way.
Officers found the man, identified as 22-year-old Thomas E. Alexander III, dead when they arrived.
Chelsea Smith’s husband is deployed with the military so it’s just her, her three daughters and another baby boy on the way.
Friday morning’s shooting has her worried about how to keep them safe.
“We just moved out here and it’s only me and my kids,” she said. “My husband is gone all the time. So, it’s very, like, nerve-wracking to know. And it’s not the first time this has happened,” she said.
The shooting comes just over two weeks after a woman was shot on Mariners Way.
Police said two 13-year-old girls and a 15-year-old boy have been charged with armed burglary, malicious wounding and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony in the case from two weeks ago.
Yolanda Johnson-Bell says the recent shootings have gotten too close to home since she moved in last September.
“I heard, ‘Boom boom boom boom.’ And it’s like the person was running. And it’s like it was getting closer to my window,” she said. “So I rolled out of the bed, I tucked and rolled out of the bed. And I went down on my knees and crawled to my kid’s room.”
Neighbors 10 On Your Side spoke with say they’re frustrated they haven’t heard or seen any new safety measures being put in place in light of recent shootings.
“They haven’t even told us about anything that’s been prior, like the incident that happened two weeks ago and stuff,” said Smith. “They never told us anything. I wasn’t notified about anything.”
While police search for the suspect, neighbors who live there say it’s not just the gunfire they’re worried about the long term.
Johnson-Bell moved in back in September and says she’s ready to move out after dealing with recent bug and mice infestations.
“And I just, I’m ready to move,” she said. “‘Cause I just don’t feel safe and the issues with the bugs, mice. Shouldn’t have to live with that,” she said.
She’s even had to call the fire department because of faulty smoke alarms that randomly go off and aren’t fixed.
“We’re in the house and sometimes it just goes off,” she said. “Nobody’s doing nothing, in the bed. And that’s scary to have an alarm go off when you’re in the middle of the night and know everybody’s supposed to be in bed. You think it’s a fire.”
Smith says she’s worried for her family’s safety and just desperately wants answers from the leasing company.
“What’re they going to do to keep us safe, you know? There is a lot of us that is in the military out here with kids, you know. So it is kind of scary,” she said.
No other details have been released by police, but detectives encourage anyone with information to contact the Norfolk Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP or submit a tip through the P3Tips mobile app.