Police said an argument between two people who knew each other led to a Wednesday morning shooting at 32nd Street and Chestnut Avenue in Newport News. Officers arrived around 11:08 a.m. and found a man with at least one severe gunshot wound. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
According to the Newport News Police Department, officers identified a suspect and arrested him within two hours of the shooting. Police said the investigation remains active and charges are pending.
Latest in a String of Chestnut Avenue Incidents
This is not the first time Chestnut Avenue has made headlines for gunfire this year. Back on June 1, a man suffered life-threatening injuries in a shooting on the same street, and that investigation was still ongoing at the time, per 13News Now, though no update connecting that earlier case to Wednesday's shooting has been reported.
Wednesday's shooting comes against a backdrop of declining gun violence citywide. Newport News closed out 2025 with 18 unjustified homicides, its lowest annual total since 2013, and 48 non-fatal shootings, the fewest recorded in the city since at least 2008, according to figures reported by The Virginian-Pilot.
A City Trending Safer, With Caveats
Those non-fatal shooting numbers marked a 17% drop from 2024 and a 52% reduction from the 103 shootings tallied in 2022, the same report notes. Of the 18 homicides logged in 2025, 14 involved gunshots, and seven were domestic-related, while several others — like Wednesday's Chestnut Avenue case — grew out of arguments between people who already knew each other, the outlet reported.
How the City Coordinates Community-Safety Work
The city’s description focuses on coordination rather than naming a specific service to prevent disputes from escalating: its Office of Community Safety brings city departments and community partners together around shared community-safety goals and outcomes.
Police considered a majority of last year's killings solved, with 12 of the 18 cases — about 67% — cleared, including 11 resolved through arrest, per the same report. Whether Wednesday's shooting results in formal charges remains to be seen, as the Newport News Police Department has said only that its investigation is active and that charges are pending.
