THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 20, 1994 TAG: 9409200358
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN E. QUINONES MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
The death of a 23-year-old sailor over the weekend seems to be a case of someone being in the wrong place at the wrong time, police said Monday.
Darren R. Garrett was driving to a friend's home early Saturday morning when several bullets, apparently fired from the street near the 35th Street and Killam Avenue, mortally wounded him, police spokesman Larry Hill said.
Garrett, who was stationed aboard the destroyer tender Shenandoah, based in Norfolk, was able to continue driving his 1988 Buick Regal to 51st Street and Killam Avenue, although his car struck another vehicle along the way.
The Buick came to a halt against some bushes and rocks in the 5100 block of Killam Ave., Hill said.
A friend who was in the car with Garrett called police. Garrett was taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where he died a few hours later. The friend was not wounded.
``This thing is really such a shame, because all indications are that this guy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,'' Hill said.
Hill said Garrett was on his way to visit another friend's home in the Park Place neighborhood, and believed that friend was in a car behind him.
``Garrett was apparently unaware that his friend's car had broken down a few blocks away from where the shooting occurred,'' Hill said.
Garrett of Vaughn, Miss., reported to the Shenandoah in May after serving aboard a ship in Italy, according to Navy spokesman Chief Petty Officer Paul W. Brown.
Brown said Garrett's shipmates described him as friendly. ``He seemed to be a well-liked individual,'' Brown said.
Police were looking for a possible witness who was seen running along 35th Street after the shooting. Anyone with information about the fatal shooting is asked to call the Norfolk Crime Line at 441-5100. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Garrett
KEYWORDS: MURDER SHOOTING by CNB