RICHMOND, Va. -- Richmond police Chaplain Cruz Sherman is deeply frustrated.
“We're in crisis mode and we've been in crisis mode for a while now,” said Sherman. “And unfortunately, with the incident that happened down at the Atria, it puts a magnifying glass on where we are, the reality.”
Gun violence involving young people is rising and the recent killing of a high school graduate and his stepfather outside the Altria Theater in Richmond put a harsh spotlight on that reality.
“Kids are starting the journey to the next level, and to find out that something so awful had transpired, it tears at you,” said Sherman. “It really does. It makes you go, ‘where are we now in this world?’”
Sherman, an ordained minister, has been working with law enforcement across central Virginia for more than 20 years.
He said it’s time for action, starting with a real city-wide conversation.
“Does it seem like it was something that part of Richmond could ignore because it didn't impact them? But all of a sudden something happens at the Altria and it's like, ‘whoa, wait a second. That's our cultural touchstone there. That's the center of Richmond, especially with the VCU campus all around?” I asked.
“It definitely magnified the problem that has been in existence for a long time,” Sherman said. “So now people are starting to realize outside of the normal areas that these things occur, we have a problem. When in broad daylight, among hundreds of individuals, someone can open fire like that. And again, on a day that we're supposed to be celebrating.”
As we walked by the Belt Atlantic apartment complex, on Richmond’s Southside, which has seen nearly a dozen shootings in the last two years, along with five homicides, including the killing of a mother and her infant daughter in broad daylight, Cruz acknowledged his own journey included a critical intervention.
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“You have a unique perspective because you've been there, whether it's a gang problem, whether it's a gun problem, whether it's a hopelessness problem. You have been there and indeed have even pointed a gun before. Can you tell me about that?” I asked him.
“When I was 24 in Memphis, I was involved in a gang and I went out to deliberately shoot a man and followed him, pointed the weapon at him,” Sherman said. “And for the grace of god, that weapon did not go off. I was on probation at that time. My mom, again, this is where moms have to be strong with their kids, she made me contact my PO [probation officer], let him know what I had done. He came over to the house at five o'clock that morning and he said, ‘I can send you in on a violation right now, but I'm going to give you an opportunity because I see something in you. And you need to start paying it forward.’”
Cruz used that second chance to turn his life around.
“That was back in the 80s. I've been out here since the 80s,” he said. “Every opportunity that I have to share my story or let somebody else know individually, I take. I've been a youth crisis counselor. I've been involved in gang intervention and prevention. I've taught in schools and I got to come out here.”
You’ll now see him all over Richmond helping when violence has ruined lives and damaged neighborhoods.
Cruz even organized a march after mom Sharnez Hill and her infant Neziah were killed at the Belt Atlantic in 2021.
But he said the outrage that fueled that protest has faded, and we need to channel that energy toward solutions.
“We got to be better together. Whether you live in the West End, whether you live in the Fan, whether you live in the City, whether you live out on Monument, these are Richmond problems,” said Sherman. “It's not a South Side problem. It's not a Gilpin problem. It is a Richmond problem. Therefore, we have to come together all of the organizations, all of the mental health organizations, and deal with people. Because until we change people, then we're going to continue to have this conversation. I was over here two years ago, and we're back here again. Evidently, we're not having the right conversations. Bill, it's time to be honest. We sugarcoat. We do the politically correct thing. But until there's a transformation of the mind, then we're going to be back here two years from now having that same conversation.”
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