Two people are dead and eight wounded following three separate shooting incidents in Virginia Beach, Virginia, late Friday night, authorities said.
“We have a very chaotic incident, a very chaotic night in the beach,” Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate reported during a press conference following the shootings. “Many different crime scenes.”
The gunfire started shortly after 11 p.m. local time. Officers patrolling the 1900 block of Atlantic Avenue in a resort area first heard multiple gunshots around 11:20 p.m. At the crime scene, in the area of 17th Street and 22nd Street, eight gunshot victims were found, according to Neudigate.
“At some point during the physical altercation, several individuals produced firearms and began shooting at each other, resulting in numerous people being wounded,” the Virginia Beach Police Department said in a statement stated on Saturday afternoon.
The officer will be placed on administrative assignment pending the outcome of the investigation, the department said. He has been with the department for five years and is assigned to the Special Operations Division.
“VBPD is investigating a shooting involving several victims with possibly life-threatening injuries. Large police presence at the oceanfront between 17th and 22nd St. Please avoid the area at this time,” the department tweeted.
Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital confirmed to ABC News early Saturday that it was treating six patients with gunshot wounds. Their conditions were not immediately available.
