Norfolk police flooded the parking lot of a Tidewater Drive Walmart Wednesday afternoon after a report of a shooting sent the store into an apparent evacuation, with officers detaining three people near the scene within the hour.
Officers were called to the Walmart at 7530 Tidewater Drive around 3 p.m. for a reported shooting in the parking lot, according to WAVY.com, which reported investigators described the incident as a gunshot disturbance. A WAVY crew arrived at the scene around 3:15 p.m. and observed heavy police presence outside the store along with crime tape stretched near the entrance, while the Walmart itself appeared to have been evacuated. Separately, wtkr.com reported that police arrived at the address around 3 p.m. on the same report.
Police said three persons of interest were detained at the scene, and no injuries had been reported as of the initial police update. The station's report notes the investigation remains active, with no further details released on what led up to the gunfire. WAVY reporter Markeshia Jackson was said to be working to gather more information about what happened.
What Police Have Confirmed So Far
Beyond the detentions and the lack of reported injuries, authorities have not released additional information about what triggered the disturbance or the circumstances surrounding the three people taken into custody. Anyone with information is asked to call the Norfolk Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP, per the same account.
This is not the first time a Norfolk Walmart parking lot has drawn a heavy police response over gunfire. In July 2020, officers responded to a shooting in the Walmart parking lot at 1170 N. Military Highway, a separate location from Wednesday's incident, after a call came in around 2:50 p.m., according to a prior wtkr.com report. In that case, officers found a woman with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, and a man later walked into Sentara Norfolk General Hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound of his own. Police said at the time that the 2020 shooting was being investigated as an isolated incident, and nothing in the available reporting ties that earlier case to Wednesday's events at the Tidewater Drive store.
Investigation Remains Active
As of Wednesday afternoon, Norfolk police had not announced any charges or identified the three people detained near the Tidewater Drive Walmart. The investigation was still active, and officials had not said whether a weapon was recovered or what sparked the disturbance that emptied the store.
