In the pre-dawn hours of May 26, 2019, 25-year-old Darius Timothy Gatling of Newport News, Virginia, was found in the parking lot of the Wawa at 14803 Warwick Boulevard in the Denbigh area after a caller reported a shooting shortly before 5 a.m. Police discovered Gatling with at least one gunshot wound; paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. Officers cordoned off the parking lot for several hours while they collected evidence and opened a homicide investigation.

In the days and months that followed the Newport News Police Department appealed to the public for information but by late 2019 no arrests had been announced and police had not released details about a motive or suspect. Gatling’s father, Timothy Veney, made public pleas for anyone with knowledge of the shooting to come forward, and the community held memorial walks in his memory. The investigation remains ongoing.

If anyone has information about what happened that morning at the Wawa on Warwick Boulevard, please share it with Newport News police.