Four teenagers have been arrested and charged in connection to a shooting that killed three men in a Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and left neighbors scared for their lives Tuesday evening. Authorities say an illegal gun sale and robbery led up to the deadly shooting.
Chase Feaster and Alonzo Goffney, both 18, were two of the men killed in the shooting along Olde Greenwich Circle, Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office said in an update Wednesday morning. Authorities haven't yet named a 20-year-old man who died.
A barrage of gunfire blasted through the residential street lined with brick townhomes about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Some neighbors were seen rinsing blood off of the sidewalk and boarding up broken windows Wednesday.
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“It was really scary. … I'm, like, … I want to move," one woman told News4 while checking her car for gunfire damage.
“I got kids. This is scary. My kids play right here every day. They ride their bike every day right here," one man said while standing outside his home. Two bullets hit his home near his front kitchen window.
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Bullet holes were spotted all over cars and homes on the block where the sheriff's office said two 16-year-old boys, a 17-year-old boy and 18-year-old Jeremiah Upson opened fire. The four suspects were arrested and charged with malicious wounding and using a firearm to commit a felony, the sheriff's office said.
Doorbell surveillance video obtained by News4 shows two suspects wearing masks and holding large guns. They're seen walking one direction, but then they stop, turn around and run off.
One of the 16-year-old suspects was shot and was receiving care at a hospital, authorities said. The three other suspects are in jail without bond.
"I could’ve been in my kitchen cooking and the bullets could’ve came through my window and killed me. That’s scary. I’ve been up all night long because I was afraid that they were still out there in the woods," resident Kimberly Tilghman told News4.
Tilghman said she moved to the neighborhood two weeks ago.
"It’s really just traumatic for me, just coming here, just moving. Like, I didn’t expect this," she said.
One neighbor, who asked to stay anonymous, described to News4 what her family witnessed just feet from her home.
“My son was actually outside walking the dog, and he said he heard what he thought was a car backfiring, but it was gunfire. And he actually saw one of the suspects running in the street and he got the dog in the house and he told everybody to go to the basement to get out of, you know, trajectory of the bullets because he didn't know where the gunfire was going …” she said. “The sound that they heard they thought a car was backfiring, but then they heard the rapid gunfire and that’s when they realized they were shooting an automatic rifle or some type of gun.”
The sheriff's office didn't give any further information about the alleged illegal gun sale or robbery it said led to the shooting.
Deputies said Tuesday that three people were injured in addition to the three men killed, but authorities haven't given an update yet on their conditions.
Spotsylvania County Public Schools and Fredericksburg City Public Schools opened two hours late Wednesday in the wake of the shooting.
“This delay will allow us the necessary time to prepare our buildings and staff to welcome students with the care and support they may need during this difficult time,” Fredericksburg City Public Schools said in a statement.
After the shooting, the sheriff's office acknowledged the community had been through a rough couple of days. Two parents were arrested Monday after a gun went off inside a third grader's backpack at Lee Hill Elementary School.
“You know, Spotsylvania County has had several incidents over the past 24 hours that were gun related. We take these extremely seriously. I mean, this is … probably as bad as it could get with at least six people being shot right now. It’s been a stressful 24 hours,” Major Elizabeth Scott said.
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