VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Newly obtained court documents reveal a different version of events in the Virginia Beach Oceanfront shooting, conflicting with previous statements from a suspect's attorney.
The shooting happened March 7 along Atlantic Avenue, where police say gunfire erupted during a chaotic confrontation, leaving six bystanders injured.
Investigators say officers heard shots just before 10 p.m. They found five people shot at the scene and a sixth victim later at a hospital. All are expected to survive.
Newly obtained search warrants lay out what police say led up to the violence, starting with an attempted robbery.
According to the documents, surveillance video shows four men approaching another man and trying to rob him of his gun.
Investigators say the encounter quickly escalated when three of the men pulled out firearms and at least one shot was fired. This triggered a larger exchange of gunfire that injured multiple bystanders.
Police identify Andrew Anthony as one of the individuals involved in the attempted robbery, placing him in the group at the center of the confrontation.
"He was there he pulled out a gun but he did it in reaction to other people pulling out their gun," Eric Korslund said.
The claim from Anthony’s attorney that his client reacted to others stands in contrast to what investigators describe.
In the search warrant, police say Anthony was part of the group that initiated the encounter, attempting to rob the victim before any shots were fired.
"He never pointed a gun at anybody and he never fired his gun," Korslund said.
Prosecutors may not need to prove Anthony fired a weapon, only that he played a role in what unfolded.
"The commonwealth is going to try and argue that he’s guilty as an accomplice what we call a principle in the second degree that he encouraged, assisted, or abetted this in some way," Korslund said.
With six bystanders caught in the crossfire, prosecutors are expected to focus not just on who pulled the trigger, but who they believe set the violence into motion.
