Two men were shot Wednesday afternoon in the 6800 block of Sewells Point Road in Norfolk, with one of them suffering life-threatening injuries, according to police. Officers were called to the area around 2:30 p.m. and found both victims, who were then rushed to a local hospital for treatment.
Officers responded to the block and located the two male victims shortly after arriving, according to WTKR. As of the station's report, the shooting remained under investigation, and no suspect information had been released. Police knew who the suspect was and were actively looking for that person, WAVY.com reported in coverage updated Wednesday afternoon.
Anyone with information about the shooting can submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-888-LOCK-U-UP, through the P3 Tips app, or at P3Tips.com.
A City Already Grappling With a Homicide Surge
Wednesday's shooting lands amid a sharp rise in Norfolk homicides this year. The city recorded 28 homicides through August 25, up from 17 at the same point in 2025 — a 65% increase, per the same wtkr.com account citing Police Chief Mark Talbot, who said the city has tallied 28 homicide incidents involving 29 victims so far in 2026. Twenty-three of those 28 homicides were shootings, according to The Virginian-Pilot.
Yet the picture isn't uniformly grim. Overall violent crime in Norfolk actually declined 3% year-to-date, from 532 reported crimes to 517, a drop the Pilot attributes partly to a 10% fall in aggravated assaults. Shooting incidents overall are still running 15 higher than at the same point last year and 10 higher than two years ago, though the city has recorded fewer than half as many nonfatal shootings as it saw at this point in 2021 and 2022.
Police Point to a Longer Downward Trend
The spike in homicides follows a year in which Norfolk police discussed crime numbers. Homicides fell 30% from 37 in 2024 to 26 in 2025, per the same Pilot report citing Chief Talbot. Nonfatal shootings dropped 24%, from 74 to 56, over that same stretch, and the 78 total shootings resulting in death or injury in 2025 marked a 53% decline from 2023 and a 61% decline from 2020.
In response to this year's homicide increase, police have increased the frequency of shooting-review meetings, stepped up targeted enforcement and deployed additional resources in areas experiencing violent crime, according to wtkr.com's coverage of the chief's remarks. By Wednesday afternoon, one 16-year-old student had died, another was injured, and the shooting followed a dispute involving groups of teens.
