It’s been less than a week since the deadly shooting of Philando Castile by police was broadcast on Facebook Live. Already, another U.S. shooting has been live-streamed with Facebook’s popular tool. A triple shooting in Norfolk, Virginia, last night injured three men, one of whom Facebook Live-streamed the entire incident. According to reports, T.J. Williams (above) was one of the three victims, and is the person from whose phone the Facebook Live broadcast originated.
The video was first posted to Mr. Williams’ Facebook page. The video can be found here on Facebook, and is violent and disturbing to watch. The video has also been uploaded to YouTube and other sites, as well.
One of the three men who was shot is still listed in a nearby hospital as being in critical condition. The other two victims have improved beyond critical status, according to reports from authorities in Norfolk.
The video first shows three men sitting in a car, smoking and listening to hip-hop artist Lil Bibby.
At roughly 5 minutes and 30 seconds in, you hear gunshots — 30 or more, fired in 22 seconds.
Shots continue after the smartphone falls to the car floor. After the shots cease, the broadcast continues for another 60 minutes or so from the floor of the car.
Four minutes after the shooting, you can hear a voice say, “Stay relaxed, don’t go to sleep.”
The smartphone streaming the video vibrates periodically, as if receiving app or text notifications.
Some 10 minutes after the shooting ended, a man’s voice says, “I got you. Don’t focus on them, you focus on me, keep looking at me. Don’t worry about nothing out there. Everybody good, you good.”
The man’s voice addresses a police officer nearby, then says to the man inside the car, “I love you, nephew. You be good.”
Police and EMTs can be heard on the video. One of them references gunshot “to the right temple.”
Norfolk Police released a statement on their website on Tuesday night which said police are investigating the “shooting incident that sent three people to the hospital with life threatening injuries Tuesday evening.”
The statement continues, “At approximately 6:10 p.m., Norfolk dispatchers received a call for gunshots heard in the 900 block of Bainbridge Boulevard. As police responded to the scene, the call was quickly updated to possibly three gunshot victims. Upon arrival, officers located three men inside a vehicle suffering from apparent gunshot wounds.
All three men were in their 20s, and were taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital with “significant injuries.”
The police did not identify the men, but updates will be posted here.
6:11 pm. PD investigating a shooting in the 900 blk BAINBRIDGE BLVD. More details to follow @ https://t.co/uAWiYVnlhD
— Norfolk Police Dept (@NorfolkPD) July 12, 2016
Update to shooting on BAINBRIDGE BLVD. 3 men taken to SNGH for treatment. 2 w/ life threatening injuries, 1 w/ non life threatening injuries
— Norfolk Police Dept (@NorfolkPD) July 12, 2016
[13NewsNow, PilotOnline, WTKR, NY Times, THR]