RICHMOND, Va. -- As Richmond's police chief apologizes for "any confusion or anxiety" caused by his naming of Dogwood Dell as the intended target of an alleged mass shooting plot, Richmond city council members are preparing for a closed session meeting with the department over what happened.
"I just want the full story," said Ninth District Councilmember Mike Jones, who added the meeting will take place on September 6. "That'll give us an opportunity to really just talk about standard operating procedures, kind of what happened there. But of course, we're glad there was no mass shooting. But, I believe that the residents that live in and around that area, they're kind of right where they need -- they deserve to have some questions answered. Because, if that was my backyard, I'd want to know. And I don't think that's an overreach and overstep for citizens to ask that.
On Friday, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported via a document obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, that Smith was sent an email just seven minutes before the scheduled 2 p.m. news conference on July 6 that stated the location of the alleged mass shooting was "unknown".
A spokesperson for Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney's office said the chief has since stated that he did not have time to review the email prior to the news conference where he stated and later repeated, that Dogwood Dell was in fact the target of the men called mass shooting suspects by Richmond Police.
The men arrested during the Richmond Police operation have not been charged in connection with plotting a shooting.
“My intent was not to cause alarm but to merely inform the community that a threat had been neutralized and that see something, say something works," Chief Smith said in his most recent statement to the Times-Dispatch about the situation. "Striking fear and causing alarm was the furthest thing from my mind when I stood before our residents on July 6. Quite the contrary, my goal was to create transparency and inform the public. For any confusion or anxiety that my stating Dogwood Dell was the most likely target, I am deeply sorry."
Jones said he would like to hear from the chief as to why he insisted Dogwood Dell, where thousands of people gather to watch July 4 fireworks each summer, was named as a mass shooting target.
"It's a safe space. That'll give us an opportunity to ask some questions and not to infringe upon any technical details or anything that they're not able to divulge. But then that gives us an opportunity to know what we can share with our constituents for the ones who are concerned about it," said Jones, who added that last he heard there would at least be a deputy chief at the meeting and is waiting to hear if Smith will be there as well. "How do we avoid getting here in the future? Because, for me, that's what really matters. What happened on July 4 is done. That's water under the bridge. We now have to figure out what do we do going forward."
In an August 16 interview with Tyler Layne, Chief Smith said he was 100% confident that the Richmond Police Department stopped a mass shooting on July 4, 2022.
Chief Smith said he was frustrated that the community has responded with questions and concerns about the details of the alleged plot rather than focusing on commending the officers for their police work.
"We took the facts, we took the investigation, we took my 30 years of experience and we put that together and the most likely place, and what I believe today and believed then was that Dogwood Dell was the target," Smith said in the interview. "It is something that we do every day in policing. If we have a rash of commercial burglaries, we take our resources, we don't put those resources into a residential area, we put them in where that's most likely to occur and areas that have a high number of commercial buildings and businesses."
"Do you understand why the public has had the questions that it had?" Layne asked. "It wasn't just the specification of the location, there were also questions about why the officers at the event didn't know of the attack, the surrounding law enforcement agencies weren't notified. The men's charges aren't related to anything that is a conspiracy to commit a mass shooting."
"We had a very dynamic crisis on our hands, and we prioritized operational strategies in order to neutralize the threat. And that's what we did," the chief responded. "I think where we would fault and any regret that I would have personally would be in our communication strategy."
"Is there anything specific talking about what your regrets were? When we look back at July 6, and what you said during that news conference, specifically, is there anything that you wish you could take back?" Layne continued.
"I'm pretty sure there would be some very specific things that I could say better, especially around relating to the Dogwood Dell," Smith answered. "We learn from our regrets, and we make changes and we move on. I cannot have any regrets or any ill feelings about where the focus should be. And that is on the great work of the men and women of the RPD."
CBS 6 News requested documents associated with that July 6 news conference on July 8, but due to delays are still waiting for that request to be filled.
Richmond Police Chief Smith said he planned to hold a "series of community conversations" starting the week of September 12 to "answer questions and to rebuild confidence.”
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
