RICHMOND, Va. -- As a 17-year-old Richmond Public Schools student fights for his life after being shot near his school bus stop, public officials butted heads over ways to keep the city's youth safe from violence. Gunshots rang out on McDowell Road in a South Richmond community around 8 a.m. Friday, startling neighbors in the area.
“I heard at least five to six shots," said one man who lives near the scene of the crime.
He ran to his door to find chaos outside.
"I saw some kids running back up the street, and then my neighbor came and said, that was his grandson that had gotten shot," he said.
That grandchild was a student at Huguenot High School. Police said he was on the way to the bus stop when he was injured in a drive-by shooting. Other students were waiting at the stop at the time of the shooting.
“All I saw was a black car that took off and went down to the corner and made a left turn," the neighbor said.
Investigators said the teen was rushed to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.
"It makes us fearful, because we've never had anything happen in this neighborhood. Most time, the kids come out, the buses come, it's peaceful, and they just get on the bus," the neighbor said. "But I was glad to see Mike Jones come out this morning to see what was happening."
Richmond Councilman Mike Jones (9th District ) who represents the area where the shooting happened said everyone in the city should be outraged by what happened in his district.
“I’m pissed off. Kids should be able to walk to school safely," Jones said.
He said he's focused on putting "plans in place" to protect youth from gun violence.
"From the mayor, to the Commonwealth's Attorney, Chief of Police, residents, everyone involved, we've got to find a way to ensure that young people can grow up in peace," Jones said. “We have the gun violence initiative right now, but that's a long-range plan. You have the gun buyback. You know, the efficacy of that is still questionable, but we have to do something with people that choose to come shoot up neighborhoods. Again, this doesn't happen on Monument Avenue, and it wouldn't be tolerated on Monument Avenue. So why is it going to be tolerated on McDowell?”
Jones said tackling violence against youth was two-fold including strengthening the criminal justice system and providing youth with access to more afterschool opportunities.
"A lot of it is if someone commits a crime with a gun, that they're going to have a seat somewhere, that they're not out on bail, that they don't beat the law enforcement home, and that's a General Assembly issue as well -- the time they have to review something. I know the Commonwealth's Attorney, they don't have the time in which they can review it. They need that time to go to a higher court and get some type of action on individuals that we know are committing these crimes," Jones said.
He added, "Second thing, we've got to give these young folks something else to do, where they're not involved in anything that would jeopardize themselves or their neighborhoods. We've got to give them jobs, make sure that they're doing well in school."
Richmond School Board Member Jonathan Young (4th District), who represents Huguenot High School, spoke out shortly after the crime with a statement to the media.
“I’m furious Tyler. I am furious," he said. "This is a red line when students can't even await a school bus at their bus stop absent being gunned down.”
Young pointed the finger at city leaders, council members, the district's superintendent, and his board colleagues for promoting policies that he believed made communities less safe for young people.
“The truth is, we have people that have demonstrated irresponsibility and irresponsibility relevant to advocating things like defund the police, advocating catch and release, and then they wonder out loud, why is it that violence is spiking in the city," Young said. "I really hope that everyone in this town acknowledges that. I'm disgusted."
Hours after the tragedy, Young also took aim at Superintendent Jason Kamras for pushing to have police removed from school buildings.
"To be clear, we consistently turn a blind eye. We consistently demonstrate a tolerance for unacceptable behavior. As a school district, we are consistently putting our students at threat within our buildings," Young said.
Councilman Jones said this was not a time for "finger pointing" and that Young didn't understand the resolution he introduced in 2020. At the time, Jones proposed an analysis of the police department's funding and potentially reallocating monies to mental health resources, but the resolution failed.
Meanwhile, the council approved a 2023 budget that includes a pay raise of about 10% for first responders.
“As a school board, he's tone deaf right now. Jonathan Young is tone deaf," Jones said. "Hell, he doesn't live here. He doesn't deal with issues that we deal with on a daily and weekly basis."
Young fired back.
"In all due respect to the councilman, this is my neighborhood. I grew up the first 18 years of my life on Whitehead Road," Young said. "So for the councilman to even say that demonstrates his ignorance relevant to the subject."
Richmond School Board Member Nicole Jones (9th District ) appeared to weigh in on the situation on Twitter.
"Safety first has always been the focus of the students of the 9th district. Deflection is not the strategy we need right now! It's a citywide call to action that includes everyone because, as we can see, the lines drawn between neighborhoods overlap and are invisible," Jones wrote.
She called for all city leadership to support the students of RPS and their healing.
Friday's shooting came just two weeks after 15-year-old Armstrong High School student, Tynashia Humphrey, was shot and killed in crossfire while walking to a store. 17-year-old George Wythe student Samiyah Yellardy was shot and killed in her home in April. And 17-year-old Armstrong student Dashawn Cox was shot and killed outside apartments in February.
"Unfortunately, RPS understands loss, because this is on our palate far too often," Mike Jones said. "We have to get serious about ensuring the safety of our young people. We have to move beyond rhetoric."
Detectives have not yet released information related to suspects or a motive in this case. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
