DANVILLE, Va. – People living in a Danville apartment complex are on edge.
Police are still searching for the gunman in Wednesday night’s deadly shooting at Woodside Village.
Darick Richardson II, 23, died Thursday morning after being shot several times in the parking lot at the complex.
Police were back in the area to help comfort neighbors that afternoon. However, many said it was just a matter of time before something like it happened again.
“I don’t really come outside a whole lot because there is a lot of fighting, arguing and just craziness going on in the parking lot most days,” one neighbor, Holley Hooker, said.
Hooker moved to the Woodside Village Apartments at the end of April and said that it isn’t the first time there’s been a shooting at the complex, but this one was a little too close.
“Me and my neighbor were sitting in our cars right next to each other. We were just on our phones kind of minding our business. There were some guys out in the parking lot, but they didn’t sound like they were arguing,” Hooker said. “We didn’t pay no mind to it. Everything was completely fine. Then out of nowhere, gunshots just start going off.”
Fearing she’d be caught in the crossfire, Hooker ran inside to hide. It wasn’t until later that she learned the news about her neighbor’s passing.
“A lot of anxiety, people have problems sleeping and fear that they’re going to be a victim when things happen,” Danville Police Department’s Captain Steve Richardson said. “When we know that these incidents are not random acts we want to get that out.”
On Thursday afternoon, police took a HEART – healing and engaging after recent trauma – walk around the complex to offer resources to neighbors in need.
“We’re making sure everyone has the facts and gets their questions answered, not hearing things on the street,” Captain Richardson added. “We want to be transparent with everyone out here about what’s going on.”
And while police said this is the first homicide at the complex, they said they’re no stranger to the area – something neighbors would like to change.
“I was just scared. Mainly because we have small children,” Hooker said. “My daughter isn’t even two yet. Stuff like that is scary especially when it happens right there.”
Police are asking anyone with information or video from Wednesday night’s shooting to reach out to them so that they can find the person responsible.