DATE: Thursday, September 18, 1997          TAG: 9709180369

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   86 lines

VIOLENCE NO STRANGER TO OCEAN VIEW AREA

Edward Dozier was outside his home in the 9600 block of 15th Bay St., enjoying the night air, when gunshots exploded in a parking lot across the street.

People ran, screamed and scattered. Dozier dropped to the ground.

``It was just scary,'' Dozier said. ``Everyone was taking cover. There was a lot of confusion.''

Moments later, three men were lying on the pavement. Two men died at the scene and one died later at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, making the shootings in the high-crime neighborhood Norfolk's first triple homicide in five years.

On Wednesday, as neighborhood residents talked about the terror of living in an area where violence is fed by competition among drug dealers, police continued an investigation.

Police spokesman Larry Hill said the names of the victims - who were in their late teens and early 20s - were being withheld because of the complex investigation.

``Releasing the names is going to interfere with the investigation right now,'' Hill said. He expected the names to be made public today.

Police also declined to release details about what led to Tuesday night's shootings, or release names or descriptions of any suspects. Police also would not say what kind of guns were used, but Hill said the victims were shot several times.

``There were multiple shots fired,'' Hill said. ``Exactly how many we don't know.''

Detectives had not pinpointed a motive for the killings, he said, ``but we are investigating the possibility it may be drug-related.''

Residents already were pointing to a motive based purely on their experience. They said the neighborhood is populated with dueling drug dealers. Any calm periods are inevitably followed by spates of violence.

``It's all drugs,'' said a 35-year-old man, who declined to be identified. ``And it'll keep on happening until someone does something about it.''

The man said he was raised in Ocean View but had been living on 15th Bay just two months. He was not home when the shooting occurred, but said he lives in fear of the violence around him.

According to an analysis of police crime statistics, 209 violent crimes were reported in East Ocean View in 1996. There were 18 violent crimes per 1,000 residents, compared with an overall violent crime rate of about 10 crimes per 1,000 residents in Norfolk.

Still, violent crime - which includes murder, rape, robberies and aggravated assaults - in East Ocean View dropped 3 percent from 1995.

The neighborhood where the shooting took place is a mix of older single-family house and apartments, about a block away from busy Ocean View Avenue.

Police know that neighborhood is marred by drugs and violence, Hill said. They have set up ``high-impact patrols,'' including one as recently as last weekend. But on that night it was mostly quiet, Hill said.

The triple-murder has stunned neighbors, and some talked on Wednesday about the gunfire.

One woman said she heard the gunshots from inside her house.

``It sounded like firecrackers,'' said the woman, who declined to be identified. ``Then there were individual pops and I realized it wasn't firecrackers.''

Dozier, who has two young children, said residents often talk about violent incidents for a short time, then ignore the problem and carry on with their lives.

Dozier said the attitude of most residents is to ``just leave it alone, but that's not the way to do it,'' he said. ``You've got to get together.''

However, Dozier, 37, said he's planning to leave it all behind. Even though he moved into a yellow shingled house a week ago, he's already looking for somewhere else to live. He fears that his children, ages 5 and 6, could someday be victims.

``I want to see them grow old,'' he said.

One of his biggest concerns, he said, is the dozens of school-age children who live in the area. He has heard gunshots in the middle of the day.

The neighborhood has had its share of violence, Dozier said, but there are quiet times, too.

Police ``have been driving by and that's helpful,'' he said. Minutes after he spoke, five bicycle patrol officers circled through the neighborhood. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Edward Dozier

Color Photo

MOTOYA NAKAMURA/The Virginian-Pilot

A bullet left its mark in this car, which was parked in the 9600

block of 15th Bay St. during Tuesday night's triple homicide. KEYWORDS: SHOOTING MURDER OCEAN VIEW

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