RICHMOND, Va. -- Police say hundreds of shell casings have collected from the streets of Richmond's East End and Southside over the past few weeks.
Detectives are working dozens of cases and say before they can solve one, another one pops off.
On Friday, Crime Insider sources say three young men were shot in broad daylight on Lamar Drive. One was critically injured.
Homes were also hit by gunfire, including that of 9-year-old Jordan Tucker.
"But you know what's messed up?” asked Jordan. “One of my friends is over here and I don't know if he's alright or not.”
He turned to his mother as tears filled his eyes. “It's OK,” she said. “It's sad, you know, to not know if his friend is OK."
"It scared me out my heart, and the fact that his friends can't even come outside to play because all this other stuff is going on,” she said. “It's crazy!"
CI sources said at least 30 rounds were fired - which they say are eerily similar to scenes playing out across the city and Henrico County over the past three weeks.
Councilman Mike Jones said he wants to talk to the chief of police.
"They feel abandoned,” Jones said. “They called into Third Precinct. They've reported calls about different activities they've seen out here and they don't feel as if they got the necessary response until something like this happened."
But crime expert Steve Neal said the increase in drive-by shootings could be all about what police personnel are available.
"The RPD has been busy with riots and protests, they've had issues with manpower,” Neal said. “And of course you have the issue of de-policing where some agencies are not being aggressive and that has emboldened the criminals."
When asked if It was a manpower issue, Jones said that the shootings predate the protests.
"I asked [the residents] and they say this stuff has been going on," Jones said.
