Richmond sees decrease in violent crime

The number of homicides in Richmond this year rose to 14 on Saturday when a deadly shooting occurred in the Taco Bell parking lot on 23rd St. and Barrett Ave. Richmond Police spokeswoman, Detective Nicole Abetkov, said the victim was shot in the abdomen and died later at the hospital as a result of his injuries. The Contra Costa County Coroner’s office confirmed the identity of the victim as Javier Campos, 38, of Richmond.

“Homicides are down over 40% already,” said Richmond Police Captain Mark Gagan, cautioning that in the face of Campos’ murder just days earlier that statistic holds little comfort.

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Richmond’s first Ceasefire “call-in” to debut soon

“We’re trying to hit the community where we’re hemorrhaging the most, and that’s these young men,” said Pastor Henry Washington at a planning session last week. Washington is a core member of Ceasefire/Lifelines to Healing—a renowned violence prevention program set to launch in Richmond later this week.

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Richmond minister to march against gang violence

While police are saying that a longstanding feud between Central Richmond’s Deep-C gang and the Project Trojans gang in North Richmond may be heating up, a number of groups in the city are trying to address systemic violence by engaging the community to encourage non-violence. Operation Richmond, a faith-based collaborative organization that promotes non-violence, is organizing an event called “Making Noise for Peace” on April 23—a day before Easter—in response to the recent spate of shootings and homicides in unincorporated North Richmond.

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