RICHMOND, Va. -- Pandemic-driven stress and anxiety, high levels of gun possession, and reduced trust in police have all contributed to an increase in the number of teenagers shot over the past few years, according to Dr. William Pelfrey, a professor in the Criminal Justice Program at Virginia Commonwealth University.
"Some combination of these factors contributed to the increased use of firearms in the region," Pelfrey said. "As the pandemic has become less onerous, and young persons have returned to school, we can expect that some of those contributing variables have declined. Others, such as the obscene number of guns in society and the reduced trust in government, will take years to rectify."
The number of juveniles shot and killed in the *City of Richmond, the City of Petersburg, and **Henrico County has nearly tripled since 2018.
Fatal shootings in which victims were minors
2022 (through Sept. 30) = 8
2021 = 8
2020 = 9
2019 = 3
2018 = 3
Total shootings in which victims were minors
2022 (through Sept. 30) = 28
2021 = 56
2020 = 47
2019 = 24
2018 = 19
Requests for Chesterfield County's shooting statistics have not yet been answered.
Pelfrey suggested the COVID-19 pandemic has played a large role in youth violence since 2020.
"Young people were not in school and therefore under less supervision," he said. "Many lost jobs or had family members that lost jobs, creating economic tension. The uncertainty of the pandemic produced stress and anxiety. These factors combine to produce volatile circumstances, among juveniles experiencing reduced levels of supervision (out of school), who were often at home or in their neighborhoods."
He also pointed to the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent riots and protests against police brutality as contributing factors.
"During the past few years, trust in police and government agencies has declined," Pelfrey said. "It will take years of community-oriented police efforts to restore that trust."
Pelfrey added that the increase is consistent with national patterns, but because these are "relatively small numbers over only a few years" they "may not demonstrate lasting trends or patterns."
To that point, William McCue in the Henrico County Police Division Office of Public Affairs said "each case is unique and requires its own examination of the facts and circumstances. We are not able to speculate a specific cause that would account for the fluctuation."
*The numbers from Richmond include one accidental shooting in 2020
**The numbers from Henrico include suicides and accidental shootings
