Eight weapons have been found “in and around” the 19th Street municipal parking lots at the Oceanfront in the past two weeks, the police confirmed on Friday afternoon after The Virginian-Pilot inquired about it.
“As a matter of protecting the public, any weapons found abandoned in public are taken into evidence,” Virginia Beach Police Department spokesperson Jennifer Cragg wrote in an email.
The police department recently asked the city’s Park and Landscape Services to trim the bushes on the north and south sides of 19th Street between Pacific and Arctic avenues, according to Cragg. Some of the shrubs were 4-foot tall.
“Due to this trimming, we can now see three blocks from 20th street to 17th street through the parking lots,” Cragg wrote. “The trimming of the bushes provides for additional safety initiatives for both citizens of Virginia Beach and visitors.”
The 19th Street lots are owned by the city and are notorious for late night crime in recent years.
Deshayla E. Harris, 28, of Norfolk, was shot and killed March 26 near the parking lots. Police have said she likely was killed by a stray bullet. Several people have been arrested in connection with multiple shootings that night, but no one has been formally accused of killing Harris. Donovon Lynch, of Virginia Beach, was also shot and killed that night by a police officer just a block away. Police have said Lynch, 25, was brandishing a weapon that night, though his family disputes that.
Frank Fentress, Park and Landscape Services administrator, said he met with police to talk about visibility issues in that area.
Shrubs varying in height from about 24 inches to 4 feet have surrounded the surface parking lots for years, Fentress said. They were originally planted to screen the lots as required by a city zoning law, he said.
Fentress’ crews started the work Tuesday, removing a chain-link fence around part of the lots’ perimeter and tall junipers in the middle of the lots. They proceeded to trim the Osmanthus and Ligustrum plants almost to the ground around the edges of the lots and removed the cuttings. They planned to finish on Friday.
When new shoots grow, the bushes will be maintained to not exceed 30 inches, Fentress said. He added that there are plans to review other Oceanfront landscaping features with police soon.
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com
