PETERSBURG, Va (WRIC) –The latest string of gun violence in Central Virginia has injured at least nine in two days, but the barrage of bullets leaves an impression of emotional stress even greater.
Two hours after a Petersburg woman’s grandson was allegedly grazed by a bullet near her home, and seeing his friend’s bloodied face, she pleaded for the carnage to cease.
“Please put the guns down. It could have been my life, it could have been my grandson’s life,” Kelly Stewart said Friday night outside her home; fighting back tears.
The early evening shooting around 6 p.m. was the second shooting on Halifax Street in 20 hours, and the first in Petersburg after a double shooting Wednesday night on Locust Court.
Speaking directly to those that choose violence, Stewart said, “Y’all are not only hurting us, y’all are hurting a lot of people. People are scared, we’ve got all of these people scared to come out because of these guns. Please stop the violence. Please stop the violence.”
Petersburg police said the three people who were shot on Halifax Thursday and Friday are expected to recover, but others shot in metro Richmond face a more tragic fate.
Thursday night two people were found shot in Chesterfield Broadwater Apartments complex on Timsberry Circle– one of the victims was found shot multiple times inside of a sedan.
Chesterfield Police identified 20-year-old Tyjuan Coleman as the man who died, the second person shot in the incident remains unidentified and suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Thursday also saw a rash of violence in Richmond’s southside, where two people were shot inside Ironclad Pizza & Grill on McDonough Street. One man is reportedly fighting for his life, while the other victim should recover.
The lingering question: what is going on?
“It’s scary for me, it’s very scary,” Stewart said, adding, “It’s gonna be a hard weekend for me, but I’m gonna try and make it through.”
Anyone with information related to these crimes is urged to contact authorities, and can do so anonymously.