PETERSBURG, Va. (WTVR/CNN/CNN Newsource/WKRC) – An Uber driver rushed a shooting victim to the hospital Friday.
A Uber driver is being called a hero after rushing a person who was shot twice to the emergency room in Petersburg, Virginia. The incident occurred in the typically quiet neighborhood of Walnut Hill around 9:30 a.m. on Friday.
“It is scary. It is scary,” a witness told WTVR.
According to the outlet, residents described hearing five gunshots.
“I was watching the TV program and I heard five rapid shots very close,” another witness told WTVR. “Inside the house just watching TV, and then you just heard like five shots just back to back.”
The gunshots were captured on a doorbell camera, with gunshots echoing through the neighborhood. Immediately after the last shot, a car was seen speeding away.
“One car speeding leaving the neighborhood,” a witness told the station’s reporters.
Police believe that car belonged to an Uber driver who was taking his passenger to the hospital after they were shot while getting into the car.
“First of all, I think our Uber driver is a hero here,” Chief Travis Christian of the Petersburg Police told WTVR. “He’s taken someone that he doesn’t even know, who’s apparently been shot, and he’s taking him to the hospital. So we’re thankful for our Uber driver.”
Minutes later, a second crime scene emerged at the emergency entrance of an area hospital, where the Uber driver stopped his car and the injured victim got out.
“I applaud him. I applaud him,” another witness told WTVR. “Most people would have just left him and went on about their business, but I applaud him. He may have saved a life.”
Police confirmed that the Uber driver was in harm’s way.
“Bullets were flying near him as well, and I’m sure he’s wondering what’s going on,” Chief Christian told WTVR.
Witnesses reported seeing two people running down Wilton Road after the shots were fired. A Dinwiddie County Sheriff’s Office canine was brought in to try and track them, while Petersburg police gathered evidence from the scene. Detectives told the outlet that the victim’s injuries are not life-threatening.
“I wouldn’t have thought it was here because this was a quiet neighborhood,” one resident told the station’s reporters. “This is something that doesn’t happen in this neighborhood.”
So far, no arrests have been made. An investigation is ongoing.