NORFOLK, Va. — A Norfolk city councilman is calling for more community resources to prevent violence after a 38-year-old man was shot and killed in the Young Terrace neighborhood Tuesday.
Norfolk police identified the victim as Bernard O. Robinson, 38, of Norfolk.
Police said officers were called to the 300 block of Nicholson Street around 11 a.m. Tuesday for a report of a gunshot victim. Officers found Robinson suffering from a life-threatening gunshot wound.
He was taken to a hospital, where he later died.
A day after the shooting, Norfolk City Councilman JP Paige met with News 3 in Young Terrace and said another life lost to gun violence is a reminder that the city cannot become accustomed to these deaths.
"Every time somebody loses their life in our city, it's a great deal of sorrow," Paige said. "I'm not one of those that has come used to this, that accepts this, or is going to give up the fight or battle going forward as to what it takes for us to make these things better."
Paige says dispute preceded shooting
Norfolk police have not publicly released details about what investigators believe led to Robinson's shooting.
Paige stressed that he had not received official information from the Norfolk Police Department about the circumstances surrounding the homicide.
However, based on conversations he has had with people in the community, Paige said he believes the shooting stemmed from a domestic dispute involving a woman's current boyfriend and the father of her children.
Paige said the consequences of a deadly dispute like this can extend far beyond the people directly involved.
"The lives of those children are forever impacted," Paige said. "The sorrow of that mother going forward, the young man that pulled the trigger, the rest of his life in jeopardy, and of course the young man that is gone."
Police have not confirmed Paige's account of what led to the shooting.
News 3 reached out to Norfolk police Wednesday to ask whether a suspect had been identified or anyone had been arrested in Robinson's death. Police said the investigation is still underway.
Call for more violence prevention resources
For Paige, the shooting also highlights what he sees as a need to expand Norfolk's violence prevention efforts.
He said the city already has people working to intervene in conflicts before they escalate, but he believes more resources and community partners are needed.
"I need more hands on deck. I need more funding. I need more than the violence interrupters that we have, and I need more folk paying attention and pitching in," Paige said.
Paige said it can be difficult to measure the success of violence prevention programs because there is no way to count the shootings or homicides that did not happen because someone intervened.
Still, he said he knows of disputes that are being addressed before they escalate, including situations in which people are given time to calm down before responding.
"We just need a few more people engaged and involved from different perspectives that may be able to reach places that we don't have people reaching," Paige said.
He said he particularly wants people who are already connected to neighborhoods like Young Terrace — potentially even residents themselves — to have opportunities to do that work and be compensated for it.
"We need people that are willing to work at nights when a lot of this happens," Paige said. "We still have violence that's taking place here. We still have guns that are going off in all of our public housing communities."
Paige said those community members could provide another set of "eyes and ears" and potentially reach people who may not respond in the same way to police or city officials.
'We cannot normalize this'
Paige said he does not believe preventing violence can be the responsibility of police alone.
"We can't expect our police to do the preventative work. We have to do the preventative work as a community," Paige said.
He also pointed to trauma as something that needs to be addressed, arguing that unresolved pain can contribute to future violence.
"We have to address the trauma stacked on top of the trauma," Paige said. "If we don't learn how to address the pain, we will not make any progress in impacting this."
Standing in Young Terrace near an elementary school Wednesday, Paige said he is particularly concerned about the effect repeated violence has on children growing up in communities where shootings occur.
"The citizens have been impacted, and it's too far and too often happening to our citizens to the point where it comes commonplace and it becomes normal," Paige said. "We cannot normalize this."
His message to residents is that reducing violence will require involvement from the community as well as city leaders.
"We're not giving up. We're going to continue to work," Paige said. "If we don't do this, it don't get done. This is our problem, and it is our responsibility."
Norfolk police continue to investigate Robinson's death.
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