On a spring evening in Norfolk, Virginia, the life of Roosevelt A. McKinney, a 33-year-old male, was abruptly cut short. On April 2, 2022, at approximately 6:25 p.m., police were called to the MacArthur Center mall following reports of gunshots. Officers arrived to a chaotic scene where they found McKinney outside the mall, suffering from a gunshot wound. Despite immediate medical attention, he was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Two other individuals, a man and a woman, were also found with gunshot wounds and were transported to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The investigation into the shooting led police to identify Gary L. Moore, a 39-year-old from Virginia Beach, as the suspect. Following an investigation, Moore was charged with second-degree murder, two counts of malicious wounding, and three counts of use of a firearm. On May 18, 2022, Moore was taken into custody without incident in the city of Norfolk.
The legal proceedings that followed painted a clearer picture of the events that transpired inside the mall. Moore and a friend had an encounter with two individuals, one of whom was McKinney's nephew. The interaction escalated, and Moore ultimately shot McKinney three times, striking him once in the leg and twice fatally in the torso. The gunfire also wounded two innocent bystanders. After being shot, McKinney managed to run out of the mall and across the street before he collapsed and succumbed to his injuries.
Gary L. Moore pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him and his case went to a jury trial. In August 2024, a jury found Moore guilty of the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter for the death of Roosevelt McKinney. In a separate trial, a different jury had previously convicted Moore of unlawfully wounding the two other victims in the same shooting. On August 15, 2024, Moore was sentenced to serve 17 years and three months in prison for the voluntary manslaughter of Roosevelt McKinney and the unlawful woundings of the two bystanders, as well as for violating his probation.
