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Virginian Pilot Breaking News reporter killed in Norfolk Va shooting

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Sierra Jenkins Virginian Pilot reporter killed in Norfolk Virginia shooting
Sierra Jenkins Virginian Pilot Breaking News reporter killed in Norfolk Virginia shooting. Images via social media.
Sierra Jenkins Virginian Pilot reporter killed in Norfolk Virginia shooting
Sierra Jenkins Virginian Pilot Breaking News reporter killed in Norfolk Virginia shooting. Image via social media.

Sierra Jenkins Virginian Pilot reporter killed in Norfolk Virginia shooting. Caught in crossfire during a night out. Editors had tried reaching their breaking news editor to no avail… only to learn of turn of events hours later. 

When the press become the very victims they are covering …

In a shock of a lifetime, an editor for a Virginia newspaper reaching out to his breaking news editor over a shooting over the weekend only to get no answer – came to find out hours later, that his features editor was one of the victims killed. 

Sierra Jenkins, 25, who worked as a breaking news reporter for The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk, died at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital following a shooting outside Chicho’s Pizza Backstage in the early morning hours of Saturday, circa 1:55 am in the 300 block of Granby Street.

The shooting left Jenkins, a former CNN news assistant dead along with injuring three others. A second person was also declared deceased. 

Jenkins was leaving the pizza eatery when an argument started outside the establishment, followed by gunfire.

‘She couldn’t be reached…’ 

Officers responded to the scene around 2 a.m. and found Jenkins and two men with life-threatening gunshot wounds. One of the men, 25-year-old Devon M. Harris, was pronounced dead on scene, and the second was transported to the hospital, police said in a news release.

Jenkins was also transported to the hospital, where she later died, police said.

Two more men found by police at the scene with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds were also taken to the hospital for treatment. 

Jenkins’ editor revealed that he had attempted to reach her numerous times after learning of the fatal shooting in an effort to assign the story to her, only to learn that she herself was one of the two victims that had been killed. 

‘Saturday would have been Sierra Jenkins’ turn to cover the breaking news shift for The Virginian-Pilot,’ the newspaper reported.

‘When an editor learned early Saturday that several people had been shot in downtown Norfolk, he called Jenkins repeatedly to ask her to cover it. But she couldn’t be reached.’

Jenkins, a Georgia State graduate, was caught in the crossfire as she was leaving the bar, restaurant manager Rory Schindel told the Virginian Pilot.

Sierra Jenkins Virginian Pilot reporter killed in Norfolk Virginia shooting
Sierra Jenkins Virginian Pilot reporter killed in Norfolk Virginia shooting.

‘Passion for journalism’ 

‘Sierra was a bright and talented woman with so much going for her. Her passion for journalism was undeniable and our community is better because of her reporting,’ said Kris Worrell, editor-in-chief of Virginia Media, which operates The Virginian-Pilot and several other newspapers.

‘Sierra was funny and energetic and full of enthusiasm. We are absolutely heartbroken.’ 

A memorial for the slain reporter was spotted outside of the restaurant following news of her killing.

No arrests had been announced as of Sunday afternoon.

Jenkins grew up in Norfolk and graduated from Georgia State University.

She worked as an intern at Atlanta Magazine and CNN before joining The Pilot in December 2020.

A life of boundless potential cut short 

Jenkins father, Maurice Jenkins of Virginia Beach, told the newspaper his daughter ‘wasn’t much of a going-out kind of person at all’ but had a friend visiting the area who wanted to go out.

‘I can just hear her voice in my head, “Hey, Dad,” just always, She was a daddy’s girl,’ Maurice Jenkins said of the his daughter.

‘All kinds of life and opportunity ahead of her, but it was cut short because of senseless violence.’ 

Sierra Jenkins’s birthday was last weekend. She got her first apartment in Virginia Beach a month ago after having lived with family, the newspaper reported.

Authorities say they’re continuing to investigate the shooting and are asking the public to come forward with any information.

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