RICHMOND, Va. -- Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney spoke about the recent violence in the city at his weekly press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
He also took time to encourage people to sign up for next week's National Night Out.
Stoney spoke about continuing what he calls a "both/and" approach to the rising violence in the city.
Among the most recent violence was a shooting over the weekend that injured five people at a restaurant on Broad Rock Boulevard that was hosting a private party.
Prior to that, six people were injured in a shooting near an after-hours club on West Broad in the early hours of July 3rd.
The mayor said police will continue to attempt to pursue those who are responsible for the violence while human services will work to put prevention tools in place.
One of those tools are the violence interrupters. Stoney said that while they are in the final stages of hiring three of them, they don't yet have a firm timeline for when that would be complete.
He also spoke about the need for more gun reform to make access to firearms more difficult and penalize those who aren't following regulations.
He added that what we've seen recently is why events like National Night Out are so important.
"They bring the community together, they raise awareness of both resources and advocacy opportunities. So I'm gonna end today by asking that you participate in National Night Out but also share your story and engage with your police department and to ensure that all of our communities stay safe," Stoney said.
National Night Out is set for Tuesday and the mayor said he hopes to visit at least eight different events across the city.
