RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) - A man and woman having sex near the basketball courts in Richmond's Blackwell community Tuesday triggered a double shooting, witnesses and police sources confirmed.
"A man and woman having sex under the hut. The kids were out front, and he was around back," said a man who asked his identity be concealed.
There was a tennis gathering of kids 8 to 11 years-old nearby. On the basketball courts teens were hooping it up. But witnesses said the couple was engaged in illicit physical activity on the other side of the concession stand.
One witness, who used to be a counselor for children at Blackwell Park, said the man who was having sex got upset at the teens because they were making jokes about the couple.
The man made a call to some family members to "handle his business," according to witnesses.
"It’s very discouraging. I mean, kids will be kids and laugh and make fun if they see something inappropriate,” said the witness. “It didn't have to turn into someone getting shot. These kids could've been killed."
The teens' injuries are non-life threatening, police said. One teen was shot in the back, the other in the arm.
"That could've been my child; he loves basketball and he plays there,” said Southside mom Vequila Frazier. She said just as startling as the violence was the sexual activity in broad daylight, out in the open.
"Go find a hotel or a car for that matter,” Frazier said, laughing. “You shouldn't be at the park."
Frazier said her 14-year-old son has been told to stay clear of the park now. By the looks of the desolate park Wednesday afternoon, other parents gave that advice, too.
"We need men to step up as role models and show these men how to respect life,” said Frazier. “We are losing so many to the streets."
