In the early morning of May 5, 2023, 20-year-old Ketron Exavier Smith was working the overnight shift at a 7-Eleven on Carolina Road in Suffolk, Virginia, when two armed individuals entered the store at about 12:38 a.m. Surveillance footage shows the suspects with their faces obscured drawing firearms and immediately opening fire on Smith, leaning over the counter and continuing to shoot. The assailants fled without taking money or merchandise. A customer found Smith and emergency responders pronounced him dead at the scene.

Smith’s mother and the Suffolk Police Department both say the attack does not appear to have been a robbery, and his family believes he was the intended target. As of late 2023 the investigation remained active; police indicated they may have potential suspects but no arrests had been made and the two shooters had not been identified. If anyone was at the 7-Eleven that night or has information about the two individuals captured on surveillance, please come forward with what was seen or heard.