RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond's "Operation Safe Summer" began on Wednesday, and since the start, one person died and three people have been injured in shootings.
K-Ron Washington was shot multiple times at 18th and Coalter streets in the early hours of Saturday morning. A nurse heading home discovered Washington, but he had already died from his injuries.
That shooting occurred just days before the official roll out of Operation Safe Summer, but Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said technology had already mobilized officers to respond.
"We had officers en route to that already. We had gunshot detection going off, so we were en route even though we didn't get a call until that nurse called," Edwards said.
"When I talk about gun violence reduction, it's got to be an all-of-the-above approach. There's certainly an enforcement piece to it, but any way we can dissuade people from that path is valuable to us."
The operation brings together multiple law enforcement agencies to target areas experiencing high rates of violence.
"State police, DEA, ATF, FBI, U.S. Marshals, Commonwealth's Attorney, U.S. Attorney Office — all pulling in the same direction, hitting hot spots where we are experiencing gun violence and taking cases that are appropriate to go federal and really push that and proactive investigations too," Edwards said.
Police report they've already seen success in neighborhoods like Fairfield, where officers have executed 15 search warrants to date.
"This is a unique neighborhood for drugs. I mean it's like old school walkie-talkie with lookouts on the corner, like what you would see 20 years ago, so it's a real challenge," Edwards said. "Every search warrant we execute, we are finding the walkie-talkies, money, drugs and guns, and we aren't going to stop. If you're doing that in this neighborhood, you will be held accountable."
Sources tell Crime Insider Jon Burkett that "accountability" is the main piece to the puzzle, adding that if Operation Safe Summer is all bark and no bite, then word will spread fast through targeted communities.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
📲: CONNECT WITH US
Blue Sky | Facebook | Instagram | X | Threads | TikTok | YouTube
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. To learn more about how we use AI in our newsroom, click here.
