HOPEWELL, Va. -- The grandmother of a Hopewell teenager shot on a Sunday afternoon said the community needed to embrace law enforcement to help stop gun violence.
"We need the police officers," Rose Stith said. "They're not the enemy."
Someone shot Stith's 16-year-old grandson along 1200 block of Wall Avenue at about 3 p.m. on Sunday, December 5. The teenager remains hospitalized.
"He's had multiple surgeries," she said. "A car got behind him, started shooting at him, he started running, he ran to the house, by the time he got to the door, a bullet hit him."
Investigators said the young man was the shooter's intended target.
Information about the shooter's motive and possible identity has not yet been released.
"I'm not going to let nobody hurt my grandchildren," Stith said following the shooting. "It put a lot of fear in me, that I'm going to be wearing something in black, if this don't stop."
Hopewell Police Sgt. David Hirn has asked the public for help solving this crime.
"We have had an increase in shots fired and we've had two shootings in the past couple of weeks," he said.
"We've got to help them, stop this," Stith said.
Anyone with information was asked to call Crime Solvers at 804-541-2202.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
