ROANOKE, Va. – A man and teen were shot along Hershberger Road near the Taco Bell on Tuesday night, according to police. While they’re expected to recover, police are still looking to arrest the person responsible.
10 News spoke to one nearby business who declined to go on camera but said the gun violence needs to stop. The shooting is part of a troubling trend that’s hurting business in the area.
Valerie Brown is the executive director of the Greater Williamson Road Area Business Association. She said the uptick in crime has people scared.
“We have a lot of business owners who prior to all of this happening never owned a gun,” Brown said. “Now, they’re talking about they’re going to own guns. They don’t want to be open past a certain time at night.”
She said unfortunately, businesses have become targets in the past.
“Three or four years ago there was a random shooting on Williamson Road,” Brown said. “People in cars just randomly shot out windows in fourteen businesses, one of which was our office, and you can’t have that happening.”
W.R. Brews on Williamson Road was the site of a shooting just last month. It’s gotten so bad that Brown said a couple of businesses have decided to just pick up and leave.
“It was because of crime and they moved outside of the city limits where for them it was a safer place to be,” Brown said.
She said she’s looking forward to seeing what Roanoke’s new police chief, Scott Booth will do to curb the city’s gun violence once he steps into his role.