"Shortly after 11 p.m. this night [3:00 GMT on Saturday], we had an original crime scene … numerous shots were fired. We had approximately eight victims," police chief Paul Neudigate reported, as broadcast by the WAVY-TV channel.

While officers were actively working that crime scene, additional shots were fired in the area of 20th Street and Pacific.

"That resulted in an individual being confronted by a uniformed Virginia Beach police officer, resulting in a police intervention shooting. That individual is deceased," the police chief said.

A second deceased individual was "not a part of the police intervention shooting" and is believed not to be a part of the original shooting incident either.

"What you can see is we have a very chaotic incident, a very chaotic night in the Beach. Many different crime scenes," Neudigate summed up, adding that an officer was also struck by a car and has been transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The incidents are being investigated, with large police presence reported in the area.