Two vehicles were hit by gunfire early Friday on East Brambleton Avenue in Norfolk, and whoever opened fire was gone by the time police arrived. No one was hurt, but officers are now combing through the scene for clues about who pulled the trigger.
According to 13News Now, officers responded to the 400 block of East Brambleton Avenue after a report of gunshots and found two unoccupied vehicles struck by gunfire. The suspect or suspects had already left the area before police got there, and the investigation remains ongoing, with no injuries reported in connection with the shooting.
Few Details Released So Far
Police have not released a description of a suspect, a vehicle, or a possible motive, and the exact timing of the gunfire beyond early Friday has not been made public. It is also unclear whether the two damaged vehicles were parked on public or private property. The station's report does not indicate whether anyone has been identified as a person of interest in the case.
The East Brambleton shooting lands amid a documented rise in lethal gun violence across the city this year. Norfolk recorded 28 homicides through Aug. 25, 2026, a 65% jump from the 17 homicides tallied at the same point in 2025, per The Virginian-Pilot. Twenty-three of those 28 homicides were shootings, the newspaper reported.
A Mixed Picture on Violent Crime
The homicide spike has come even as other violent crime indicators moved in the opposite direction. Norfolk logged 16 nonfatal shootings in the first six months of 2026, down from 17 during the same stretch in 2025, and overall violent crime declined 3%, from 532 to 517 reported crimes, according to the same Virginian-Pilot analysis. Police had made arrests in 13 of the city's 28 homicides through Aug. 25 — about 46% — the paper noted.
City data previously painted an improving trend: Norfolk reported 26 homicides in 2025, a 30% decrease from the year before, along with 56 nonfatal shootings, a 24% reduction from 2024, according to a city of Norfolk announcement. A state-level review by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission found that gun-related homicide rates in a few Virginia cities, including Norfolk, are comparable to those in large cities elsewhere in the country, even though the overall number of violent incidents is much smaller.
Not the City's Only Gunfire Scare
Friday's incident echoes other recent gunfire episodes that have rattled Norfolk neighborhoods. A shooting near West 27th Street and Elkhorn Avenue sent bullets into multiple homes and at least one vehicle, though accounts of the damage vary: 13News Now reported six homes and one car were hit, while Yahoo News described six homes and a single struck vehicle. WTVR CBS 6 offered yet another breakdown, reporting that four occupied homes, two unoccupied homes and one unoccupied vehicle were hit.
Investigators in that Lambert's Point-area case believe multiple people arrived in separate vehicles, got out, exchanged gunfire and fled before officers reached the scene, per WTVR CBS 6. In a related incident on Picadilly Street, residents were home when bullets tore through the inside and outside of their house; no injuries were reported there either.
Anyone with information about the East Brambleton shooting is urged to contact investigators as the case remains open.
