The Charlottesville Police Department responded to a shooting incident Saturday at 9:52 p.m. near 1000 Grove Street, per a community alert sent Saturday evening by Timothy Longo, chief of the University Police Department and vice president for security and safety. One fatality was reported and police are continuing to investigate.
According to the alert, police initially responded to reports of gunshots heard on Grove Street, located near the University Hospital. Upon arriving at the scene, officers discovered one male victim suffering from gunshot wounds.
The victim, Charlottesville resident, Eldridge Vandrew Smith, was pronounced dead at the scene per a Charlottesville Police release included in Longo’s email.
This shooting follows two other gun-related incidents in Charlottesville — one Jan. 23 that injured a juvenile male, and another Jan. 24 resulting in the injury of a 30-year-old female. Additionally, a community alert sent Jan. 16 notified University students of a shots fired incident at Cherry Street and Hanover with no injuries reported.
Awareness around gun safety has risen following the Nov. 13 shooting on-Grounds that resulted in the deaths of second-year College student Devin Chandler, fourth-year College student D’Sean Perry and third-year College student Lavel Davis Jr. Two other students, third-year College student Mike Hollins and second-year College student Marlee Morgan, also suffered non-fatal injuries.
Community alerts are shared via email to the University community when there is timely information about a threat that can be released to the community without compromising any ongoing investigations. Timely warnings are issued when there is an ongoing threat to the community.
The public may opt-in to receive emergency alerts by texting “UVA” to 226787.