Avula unveils new Office of Gun Violence Prevention at latest Richmond crime briefing

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Richmond Mayor Danny Avula has announced a new solution to address gun violence in the city, with the creation of an Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

Avula said the goal of this new role is to connect high-risk individuals with existing programs that aim to curb gun violence. He described said individuals as young people in the criminal justice system and victims of gun violence.

"The idea behind this is having a driver of this in the Mayor's office who has a direct connection to me and the authority across all of our city agencies and our nonprofit partners [that can] really do that hard coordinating work," Avula said.

The announcement was made during the Richmond Police Department's quarterly crime briefing on Wednesday, April 16.

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Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards discussed the latest violence statistics during a time when the city is experiencing what the Mayor has called a "spate of violence." 

This comes after yesterday's deadly shooting at Oakwood Cemetery, where police said a man was killed during a graveside ceremony after an argument escalated.

Edwards addressed where detectives are at in that investigation.

"I can tell you the detectives have been working through the night," he said. "We are making progress, we have seized several firearms that were on scene and elsewhere. We are in the process of interviewing people that were at the funeral, itself."

For the first quarter of 2025, Edwards reported a rise in violent crimes compared to this time last year. That includes a 30% increase in aggravated assaults and a 27% increase in murders.

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Despite this concerning data, Edwards said that, overall, major crime is down 16% compared to data from the last two years. He also said Operation Safe Summer is expected to make a return on May 31 -- but he hinted at the possibility of bringing the initiative back sooner to increase public safety.

"I think that we have to throw the kitchen sink at gun violence -- and I'm interested in finding unique and interesting ways to address violent crime, without locking someone up," Edwards said.

Avula said he plans to select a candidate for the Office of Gun Violence Prevention by May.