RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Richmond Police are conducting a death investigation after a man was found dead with a gunshot wound in the east end of the city.
Investigators responded around 3:29 p.m. to the 1800 block of Rogers Street in the Eastview neighborhood; a man was found shot dead outside of a home.
After police said no one was reportedly in custody, they maintained calling the shooting a ‘death investigation,’ and not a ‘homicide.’
However, yellow crime scene tape has been unraveled uncharacteristically more this year. If just one more homicide investigation is launched, 2021 killings would be on par with all of 2020, yet two and a half months remain on the calendar.
66 people were killed last year, and nearly all were from gun violence; a trend reflected this year.
Richmond police records show around 45 percent of homicides since the start of 2020 remain unsolved, with no arrests.
Today, another local round table discussion was held on the issue; this time with local faith leaders.
Pastor Ralph Hodge of Second Baptist Church in the Southside said members of his congregation are asking for a plan.
“They’re just asking, ‘pastor, why isn’t the city doing anything,?'” Hodge said of his congregants.
“‘Why aren’t they [city leaders] starting to do the group violence intervention?’ ‘What’s the hold up, you know?’ It’s kind of more of an impatience.”
Mayor Levar Stoney declared gun violence a “public health crisis” in May, though no formal plan to fight it has been presented.
It is only known that Stoney plans to spend less than one percent of the city’s multi-million dollar allocation from the American Rescue Plan to directly combat firearm incidents–proposing to spend $1.5 million of a $155 million pot.
Stoney’s office said a $500,000 grant they received will also help gun violence. One question lingers: will there be an agreed-to price tag to end the crisis?
No other information is available from police as Tuesday’s east end investigation is ongoing.
This is a developing story and 8News is working to learn more about this incident.
