Portsmouth residents, business owners sound off about violence [Video]

PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Nine public speakers at Portsmouth’s City Council meeting on Tuesday evening pleaded for solutions to the violence that has plagued Olde Towne and other areas in Portsmouth recently – and Police Chief Stephen Jenkins said he will speak on the matter more at his quarterly chief’s forum Wednesday.

Business owners described worries about property damage, public drinking and drug use, street takeovers, reckless driving, litter, and “sheer lawlessness” – and that’s to say nothing of the shootings that have taken place.

At 2:46 a.m. Sunday, a man was shot in the 300 block of High Street, in the heart of Olde Towne. Later the same day, at 5:30 p.m., three people were shot in the 2300 block of Jefferson Street, not far outside of Olde Towne. One of them, 44-year-old Danyelle Akoya Lee, later succumbed …