THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 26, 1995 TAG: 9509260292
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON FRANK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
Twzondria Stennett and her uncle say they were looking for directions Sunday night when they turned down South Street and drove into the Ida Barbour housing project.
Stennett and her uncle, 48-year-old James Wiggins of Bethel, N.C., apparently didn't know they had entered one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in South Hampton Roads. Ida Barbour's violent crime rate for 1994 was four times the overall city rate, police and FBI figures show.
Wiggins and Stennett, a Navy wife who lives with her husband on Chartom Court, told police they slowed their 1991 Honda Accord and opened the windows. It was unclear which of the two - Wiggins or Stennett - was driving. They said two teenagers approached, one on the driver's side, the other on the passenger's side.
Police say that when Wiggins told the men he was from out of town and needed directions, the youth on the passenger's side of the car pulled out a handgun and began firing.
This was the third time in slightly more than a month that motorists have been assaulted in their cars on Portsmouth streets at night by armed teenagers.
``I heard gunshots and saw a car squealing tires,'' said an Ida Barbour resident who did want to be identified. ``I hit the ground and then got up and ran back home.''
It appeared to the witness, as the Honda sped away, that tragedy had been averted.
But inside the car, both Stennett and Wiggins were bleeding. Stennett had been struck in the right leg and Wiggins was hit in the chin.
Although severe, their injuries did not stop them from driving about a mile to the Portsmouth Naval Medical Center.
Stennett entered surgery late Monday afternoon, said Merritt H. Allen, spokesman for the medical center. Her condition after surgery was not known. Wiggins was listed in stable condition.
The other cases:
On Aug. 30, about one mile from the scene of Sunday's assault, armed thieves blocked a section of Effingham Street near Duke Street with metal signs hauled away from a nearby convenience store. Three people were assaulted, including a 41-year-old woman who was shot when she tried to drive away before she was robbed. Two teenage boys, 13 and 17, were arrested.
On Aug. 22, a Portsmouth man's car was stolen when his path was blocked by a young man on a bicycle. Another youth leveled a handgun and ordered the motorist out of the car, then drove away. The man also lost clothing and cash, but was not shot. The assault happened in the 900 block of Argyle St. near Effingham Street. < ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo by Martin Smith-Rodden
The shootings occurred in Ida Barbour, one of the area's most
dangerous neighborhoods.
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Area Shown:
KEYWORDS: SHOOTING TEENAGER JUVENILE PORTSMOUTH by CNB