Police: Employee shot at Hampton restaurant seriously injured
HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — A man suffered life-threatening injuries after being shot at a Hampton restaurant Saturday night.
Just before midnight, dispatch received a call in reference to gunshots at Coasters Beach Grill on the 200 block of Buckroe Avenue.
When officers arrived on the scene, they found a man suffering from gunshot wounds. EMS crews transported the man to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Police said the victim, an employee of the business, was shot by an unknown suspect.
One of the owners of Coasters spoke with 10 On Your Side. She said it was one of their security guards who was shot. She said he had followed a customer outside and across the street after he didn’t pay his bill, then shots were fired.
One neighbor, Pauline Antomattei, remembered the scary moment she and her husband heard the gunshots.
“Well, we were in bed, and we heard three shots and my husband and I got up, he went to the window here and he saw something,” Antomattei said. “Anyway, we’ve had this experience before with the same business and it was a little disturbing and last night we were little up to past one o’clock.”
Antomattei said the shooting was one of many issues neighbors have had with the business.
“People parking in our driveway, an environmental issue, loud music. We were told it was a restaurant, but this is operating as a club,” Antomattei told 10 On Your Side.
A second neighbor declined to show her face or reveal her name, but said she was on her front porch at the time. The second neighbor said she heard arguing and then saw a man get shot just feet away from her door.
She said the shooter turned and looked straight at her.
“The dude looked at me,” the second neighbor said. “I looked at him and I just hit the deck and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.’ I’m shaking, I’ve never trembled so much.”
She said it all just added to her stress after just being able to cope with another traumatic experience.
“I just lost my 17-year-old son a year and a half ago, and I was just finally starting to have a little — making a step forward where I could come outside, and now to see shots in my neighborhood, right in front of my house when I’m right there?” She said. “I shouldn’t have to see that.”
The neighbors said, after this shooting, they want Coasters to move someplace else.
The Hampton Police Division is asking for the public’s help with identifying the suspect.
This incident remains under investigation by the Hampton Police Major Crimes Unit.
If you have any information about this case, you can submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-888-LOCK-U-UP, downloading the P3 tips app to a mobile device, or visiting www.P3tips.com and submitting a tip.
Check with WAVY.com for more updates.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
