RICHMOND, Va. -- City leaders are responding to a weekend shooting that claimed the life of a teenage boy and injured two other women, saying it happened at the epicenter of a community-wide effort to turn the tide against gun violence.
Richmond Police are not sharing the name of the victim, but Richmond Public Schools confirmed the 16-year-old was an 11th grader with the district, and received schooling through "private placement," meaning he did not physically attend an RPS high school.
Cruz Sherman, a community advocate, was called to the Belt Atlantic Apartments just after the shooting Saturday night. He said the shooting stemmed from what he called a "senseless argument."
“With the emotions, with the guns, that is a recipe for disaster, and we saw that with the incident last night," Sherman told CBS 6 Sunday afternoon.
Police say two women were taken to the hospital as a result of the shooting. Crime Insider sources say they have both been released.
CBS 6 was told that one of the women was a bystander.
"There were other innocent people that were hit," Sherman said. "So how much longer do we have to continue to be faced with these incidents?"
This is not the first time innocent bystanders have been caught in the line of fire at the Belt Atlantic Apartments. In April 2021, a mother and her infant daughter were killed during a shooting there.
In 2023, CBS 6 reported on two separate shootings at the complex.
"It's unacceptable that this is happening in our communities," said Richmond City Council member Stephanie Lynch.
Lynch said after the shooting in 2021, Lynch, Sherman, church members, and other community advocates came together to create the city's Trauma Healing Response Network, funded by the city, to help people in the community and across Richmond who are traumatized by gun violence.
Both Lynch and Sherman said they've seen positive results since its inception.
"Everybody thinks that Belt Atlantic is this horrible place, but it had been a while since we’d been to Belt Atlantic, due to the work of the community and other activists. You can’t control the emotions of other people," Sherman said.
"Do we have enough around that community today? No," Lynch said. "We could throw a million dollars, millions and millions of dollars at this problem, but we also can't control guns. And sadly, that is the one measure that we have the least amount of control over, and there's way too many guns in this community, way too many."
So far, grant funding has helped provide youth programming for young residents, which Lynch says is a start.
"When we look across our budget and where we prioritize the spending of city taxpayer dollars, we cannot neglect and we should not neglect the health and wellbeing of these communities, for pet projects, for other things that will not ensure that our families have the best chance that they can to thrive," Lynch said.
Richmond Police have not shared any information on a potential suspect or suspects.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Major Crimes Detective G. Sullivan at (804) 646-3929 or contact Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000. The P3 Tips Crime Stoppers app for smartphones may also be used. All Crime Stoppers reporting methods are anonymous.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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