VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A man has been taken to the hospital after police said he was shot in an early-morning home invasion.
Virginia Beach Police say the shooting was called in shortly after 4:30 a.m. in the 4900 block of Erskine Street. Arriving officers found a man at the residence with a gunshot wound to his torso. He was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Investigators said three men forced their way into the home from both the front and back entrances. All armed with guns, they demanded drugs from the victim.
They fled the scene after the shooting and are on the run at this time.
Svetlana Armella told 13News Now she moved to the neighborhood about a year ago because she felt safe.
"Great neighbors, everyone pitches in. A lot of kids playing outside," she said.
However, while bringing her 5-year-old to the bus stop, Armella saw the aftermath of the home invasion.
"It's a little scary," she said. "We're not that far away from it and it could happen down the road."
Detectives spent hours at the home, using flashlights in the dark of the morning to find evidence. Forensic units swept the door for fingerprints, even looking inside the trunk of a car and later towed it from the driveway.
Now neighbors along this family-friendly street just want to see the gunmen arrested.
"I hope so. I don't want them running around when my kid's out and the bus stops when getting picked up from school. It's not as safe as it was a couple of days ago, I guess," said Armella.