NORFOLK, Va. - Two deadly shootings in Norfolk just several hours apart left two men dead and police searching for suspects.
The first shooting came in just after midnight, when police responded to the Shop ‘n Go located in the 600 block of E. Liberty Street.
The victim has been identified by police as 41-year-old Tony Boulos. He was transported to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital where he was pronounced deceased.
The property owner told News 3’s Merris Badcock the victim worked at the Shop ‘n Go and had just closed up the shop when the shooting happened.
Louie Santana remembers his cousin, the 43rd homicide victim in Norfolk during 2016.
“I think it was a dispute over change or something,” said Louie Santana, a cousin of the victim. “He was shot 5 times and they just left him for dead.”
Santana however says his cousin was a god-fearing man, who was not on the wrong side of the law, just at the wrong place at the wrong time.
“He went to church two times a week, sometimes three. He always carried his rosary in his hand, 24/7. He was very humble and he was a nice guy. He helped out a lot of people in this community,” said Santana.
Santana also told News 3 his cousin was working seven days a week to help pay of his mother's medical bills.
Neighbors in this part of Berkley also remembers hearing five gunshots.
“We were sleeping. It was a little after midnight, and we heard pow-pow-pow-pow-pow,” said Erin, a Berkley neighborhood resident.
She did not want to give us her full identity for fear of her and her family’s safety, but she says this is not the first time she’s heard gunshots.
Her house has even been shot up by bullets before.
“It’s like the wild, wild west around these parts,” she said.
Less than two hours after the shooting at the Shop ‘n Go, police responded to another shooting in the city at the 1500 block of Azalea Garden Road.
The victim in this incident has been identified by police as 21-year-old Mike Watson. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Eyewitness Linda Gore was one of the first people on the scene.
“[I heard] just about four or five gunshots, and then saw a dude in a black hoodie running away from the shots and the fire. I walked out to the window, and there was a dude laying in the street. There was blood everywhere.”
So far Norfolk has had 44 homicides this year. At that rate, the city is on track to have five more murders before the end of the year.
We reached out to police to see how the interim police chief plans to respond to the violence, and are waiting a response from him.
If you have any information that may help police call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.
