HAMPTON — A community is in mourning after the young life of a 17-year-old was taken too soon in a shooting at Rally's on Mercury Boulevard in Hampton.
Emotion passed across faces illuminated by candles and the florescent lights at the Rally's Friday. The vigil to remember the teen brought out family, friends, coworkers, and others in the community who wanted to show they care.
"I lost my son a year and a half ago to gun violence. And I remember that phone call. So when I heard about it I had to make sure I was here. Not because I work here, but because I have a heart," said Regina Bailey, community advocate.
The incident unfolded around 5:30pm the day before Thanksgiving. Police say they responded to a shooting and found an injured teen, who was a Rally's employee. He died at the hospital. They believe the teen and another man got into an altercation before the man shot the teen and fled.
Now as those at the vigil mourn, some said this illustrates the need to stop gun violence and give parents who've lost children a voice.
"Believe it or not it makes me want to be here even more because if I couldn't save my own child, maybe I can help save somebody else's," said Bailey. "So when I get those phone calls it's a call you just don't want to get. But if you want to be someone in the community that's looked up to, you have to go out and help."
Police are now looking for a man in relation to the shooting.
They said the suspect is a roughly 5'9" tall black man last seen in a gray hoodie, jeans, and white shoes.
If you have any information, Hampton Police ask you contact them at 757-727-6111 or the crime line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.
