RICHMOND, Va. -- Police have identified a man found dead inside a car outside the federal courthouse in Richmond early Sunday morning.
Officers responded to reports of a person shot near the intersection of North 8th Street and East Grace Street around 2:45 a.m.
Police arrived and found the body of 32-year-old Herbert L. Brown Jr. behind the wheel of a dark colored Honda with the headlights still on. Officers said he had been shot.
Investigators don't know if Brown was shot at the scene or if he somehow managed to drive to the location where the car was found.
“It’s crazy,” said Richmond resident Clae Blloid. “It’s uncanny why anybody would do that especially in front of a courthouse. It doesn't make sense.”
Charles Willis with United Communities Against Crime hopes the community can help with answers.
“Somebody saw something," he said. "If you see something say something.”
Willis mentors youth and teaches conflict resolution, something he said is desperately needed.
“Twenty homicides compared to five last year this time,” he said. “The homicides in Richmond have really taken off like a rocket ship and we need to defuel that rocket ship.”
Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to either call Major Crimes Detective Mdarshall Young at 804-646-3926 or Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000.
