Newport News police say gunshot detection technology only responded to fatal shootings – The Virginian-Pilot

Neighbors reported hearing several gunshots early Sunday outside the Newport News apartment complex where a 34-year-old man was shot.

Neighbors told the Daily Press they heard a loud argument in the courtyard of the Seven Oak Apartments, followed by “many” gunshots, causing at least one resident to duck under the window of her home.

A local resident said he heard more than ten shots in quick succession.

Police were called to the complex in the 700 block of 36th Street at 2:13 a.m. after the city’s ShotSpotter system was activated. The system is designed to pick up audio of gunshots and determine where they came from.

The activation of ShotSpotter was the only warning police received of the early morning shooting, a Newport News police spokeswoman said Monday. “We currently have no record of any 911 calls from this location,” spokeswoman Lauryn Moss said.

The Seven Oaks Apartments are located between Madison Avenue and Marshall Avenue in southeast Newport News.

Officers found Wayne Hill, 34, lying in the grass between a row of homes and the fence along 36th Street, suffering from a gunshot wound, Moss said.

Hill died in hospital.

Moss said Hill had an address in Hampton, although Seven Oaks residents said he was often at the complex and may have lived there. His relatives could not immediately be reached Monday morning.

Moss said investigators have not yet made any arrests and she did not reveal a suspected motive for the shooting. She confirmed that multiple shots were fired.

It is the city’s 10th homicide of 2024, according to a Daily Press count, compared to 11 homicides by this time in 2023. The 10 homicides this year include two in which police shot at armed residents who officers said were pointing guns at them.

Moss asked anyone with information about Sunday’s shooting to call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP or submit a tip online at P3Tips.com or through the P3Tips app. Callers can remain anonymous.

Peter Dujardin, 757-897-2062, [email protected]