WAVERLY, Va. (WTVR) -- Raheem White was shot outside a family member’s home ten days ago and is now recovering from a collapsed left lung at Chippenham Hospital.
Wednesday night he hoped his message to the man who shot him was louder than the crack of gunfire that put him here.
The shots rang out at a home on Elm Street in Waverly.
"As I was walking towards the crowd, I heard three shots," White said from his hospital bed. Raheem and two others hit the ground.
"I felt something leaking from my side," White said and realized a bullet had caught him in his left side. "It missed my heart by inches and now it's in my back."
Sussex investigators quickly arrested Kayson Brown and charged him with three counts of conspiracy to commit second degree murder along with other charges.
"Bullets don't know no name," said White’s neighbor Keesha Giffin, who is also a mother. She said the shooting and violence were upsetting. "The bullets could've gone anywhere and we have kids all up and down this street. It's sad people bring that drama to this neighborhood."
Investigators say an argument triggered the shooting. But White says he doesn't know the man police have arrested or how he got caught up in the confusion.
"I'm innocent to what happened,” White said. “I'm in pain. These guys need to stop. It's too much. You can't take a life that's not yours, just chill."
White hopes his message resonates with other shooting victims who are lucky enough to survive.
"One voice, one message,” he said. “I'm not going to be silenced. Somebody has to talk... I'm not scared at all."
hile the incident occurred in the town of Waverly, manpower issues at the police department led the chief of police there to pass the case on to Sussex County, whose deputies have more resources to handle the investigation.
