25-Year-Old Reporter Among 2 Killed in Shooting Outside Virginia Restaurant, 3 Others Injured

Two people were killed and three others were wounded during a shooting outside of a restaurant in Norfolk, Virginia early Saturday morning. Sierra Jenkins, a journalist for the Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press died at a hospital from her injuries.

Jenkins, who celebrated her 25th birthday on March 13, was caught in the line of crossfire after an argument erupted around 1:30 a.m. outside of Chicho’s Pizza Backstage, the Virginian-Pilot reported.

Norfolk police said in a press release that five people in total were shot, including Devon Harris, 25, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Another woman had life-threatening gunshot wound and two men had non-life-threatening wounds. No arrests have been made.

Jenkins’ father, Maurice Jenkins, told Norfolk’s ABC affiliate 13News Now that “there is no bigger shock” than this happening.

“I got a call at 4 o’clock in the morning from her mother cause she got a call from somebody and you know, at that point I was told she was shot and that’s all I knew,” he said. “So I quickly rushed to hospital to find out that she passed away.”

One of Jenkins’ colleagues at the Pilot wrote on Twitter that editors asked her to fill in after they couldn’t get ahold of Jenkins. The reporter, Jane Harper, said “we found later why” and wrote the Pilot’s article about the shooting and Jenkins’ death.

Her editor, Brian Root, told the Washington Post in a phone interview that Jenkins, an education reporter, was passionate about journalism and wanted to make a difference in her community.

“I have been very fortunate in my career that I’ve worked with several people who went on to become rock stars in our business, so I know them when I see them, and Sierra was on the way to becoming a rock star,” Root said. “It’s all about willingness and work ethic, and good god, she had that. And it hurts to talk about her in the past tense.”

According to the Post, Jenkins was raised in Norfolk and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Georgia State University in 2019. She interned at Atlanta Magazine and CNN before being hired as a news assistant for CNN Health. She started at the Pilot in December 2020 as a breaking news reporter, before becoming an education reporter for the publication in November 2021.

“[She] had all kinds of life and opportunities ahead of her, but it was cut short because of senseless violence,” her father Maurice Jenkins said.

Watch above, via 13News Now