Semaj Coleman was getting close to finishing her degree at Norfolk State University. She was 22. On Saturday night, Oct. 24, she was shot in a parking lot in Norfolk, Virginia, and she later died from her injuries.
Police got the call around 11:45 p.m. A woman had arrived at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital with a gunshot wound that threatened her life. That woman was Coleman.

The Norfolk Police Department says the shooting happened in a parking lot in the 5700 block of East Virginia Beach Boulevard. Early findings from investigators point to an accident.
Officers took a man into custody at the scene. He is Matthew B. Croslin, 23, of Newport News. He is charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless handling of a firearm, and he is being held at the Norfolk City Jail with no bond. The charges are allegations, and the case will now move through the courts. Police say the investigation is still open.
Coleman was from Mollusk, in Lancaster County, on Virginia’s Northern Neck. At Norfolk State she was a senior studying health services management. That is the field she planned to work in.
She took part in the school’s Spartans Promise to Persist with Purpose program. She had also been inducted into the National Association for Allied Health Professionals not long ago.
Her family posted a message online saying they are still struggling to take in her sudden death. They thanked people for the messages, prayers and phone calls. They also asked everyone to keep her mother, Melody, in their thoughts. Coleman was a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter, a niece and a friend.
Norfolk State sent its condolences to her family, friends and classmates. The school says counseling and support services are open to students, faculty and staff. It also says there is no known threat to the campus.





