RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards reported a 14% increase in murders during the first half of this year, with 32 homicides recorded in the city so far.
Despite this concerning trend, there has been positive movement in other crime categories, with robberies down 16% and non-fatal shootings decreasing by 14%.
"The reason this is important is because very rarely do we see shootings where the intention is not an attempted murder. If someone survives a gunshot wound in our city, it's by the luck of the angle of the firearm or the skill of the surgeon, but it's still the same intention, so we would like to track this number," Edwards said.
The police department's Operation Safe Summer initiative, which launched at the end of May, has distributed 558 gun safes and seized 105 firearms to date, according to the chief.
Cameron Thompson was at this morning's briefing and will provide additional details in our upcoming coverage.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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