VIRGINIA BEACH, Va (WVEC) — Police are confident they will close the case that involved a shooter randomly firing into a crowd at the Oceanfront after July 4th festivities.
The update came as Police Chief Jim Cervera gave the 2018 Mid-Year Crime Report.
Multiple tourists were shot and injured in the 1800 block of Atlantic Avenue around midnight on July 5th.
“And I’m going to go out on a limb and say those leads are very strong and we have a high percentage of clearing that case,” Chief Cervera said.
Other than that statement, Cervera didn't provide details.
Kyle Taylor from Roanoke said it’s all he saw when researching the Oceanfront as a vacation spot for his family.
“You couldn’t really Google anything without five or six of the links on there being about the shooting and stuff,” said Taylor.
According to the crime report, overall violent crime has trended down at the Oceanfront, but aggravated assault has increased. Cervera said most have incidents surround alcohol and drugs.
“These are NOT cases where people are being held in their hotel rooms and being attacked at will,” Cervera said.
Aggravated assaults are also trending upward city-wide, and the Police Chief said most involve firearms.
The focus is for authorities to intercept guns in high crime areas.
“We know the oceanfront is one..and we know the western part of our city is our second area,” said Cervera.
Like the Oceanfront, overall violent crime in the city is down.
There have been seven homicides this year compared to 11 last year at this time.
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