PORTSMOUTH, Va. — An early morning shooting in Portsmouth that left one person dead and two others injured was under investigation Monday.
Businesses in the Victory Plaza Shopping Center on Victory Blvd. were blocked by police and crime scene tape Monday morning.
“It’s not the first time," said Sergyo Salacar.
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Salacar owns a mechanic shop right next to the shopping center. He’s had the business for about six years and said this was the third time he had seen police investigating a crime at the shopping center. The shooting doesn’t worry him, though.
“This happened in the night, in the morning," said Salacar.
No one at any of the other businesses in the area wanted to go on camera, but one business owner said the shooting is concerning and makes them think about what they can do to protect their business. They said they have too much invested in that location to consider moving the business somewhere else.
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As News 3 reported in April 2026, Portsmouth’s Police Chief Stephen Jenkins said in a presentation on crime to Portsmouth City Council crime in the city was decreasing.
“We continue to see positive trends in our overall crime numbers. There are some challenges that we continue to address," Jenkins explained.
Aggravated assaults, which include shootings, dropped 14 percent in the first three months of 2026 compared to 2025.
Portsmouth police said officers went to the shopping center just after 3 a.m. Monday and found two people shot. One of them, a man, was pronounced dead at the scene. The other person, who police had not released any information about Monday, was taken to a hospital for treatment.
While on scene, police found out two other people had shown up at a hospital with gunshot wounds. Police initially said both victims were believed to be connected to the shooting at the shopping center but police have since clarified that only one is connected.
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"No. The police are good," Salacar responded when asked if he thinks police need to patrol the area more to keep crimes from happening. "The police, I hear every day.”
As of Monday afternoon, police had not identified the person killed or said why the shooting happened.
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