Richmond police chief touts ‘historically low’ number of non-fatal shootings after Operation Safe Summer

The number of murders in Richmond so far in 2025 is on par with past years, Police Chief Rick Edwards said Wednesday, but the city is seeing an “impressive” drop in non-fatal shootings this summer.

Detailing what statistics show after the city’s Operation Safe Summer anti-crime initiative, Edwards said there were 44 non-fatal shootings between May 31 and Sept. 6. That’s down from 66 in the same period last year and 102 during a recent violence peak in 2020.  

“When we talk about non-fatal shootings versus homicides, the intent is almost exactly the same,” Edwards said. “These are people shooting at each other and the only thing that saves them is the skill of the surgeon or the angle of the aim of the weapon.”

There were 58 people shot in Richmond this summer, a 28% drop from 2024 and a 43% drop from 2022, according to data Edwards presented at Wednesday’s third-quarter crime briefing.

There were 15 summertime murders, a slight drop from 16 in 2024 but above the 14 murders in the summer of 2022.

“While the murder rate is lower, 44 non-fatal shootings is historically low,” Edwards said.

Edwards attributed the decline in shootings to his department’s ongoing efforts to get guns off the streets and go after devices that can turn a semi-automatic handgun into an automatic weapon. The Richmond Police Department seized 250 guns during Operation Safe Summer, Edwards said, as well as eight “machine gun conversion devices.”

The chief recounted a particular operation on Sept. 10 — just outside the date range for the summer stats — in which RPD and federal law enforcement seized 10 guns and 26 machine gun conversion devices that had been packaged for sale.

Edwards applauded RPD and its law enforcement partners for making hundreds of arrests and serving hundreds of warrants for their “really impressive work that we believe led to that downward trend in all persons shot.”

Violent crime is up, but there’s a catch

Even though shootings are down, Edwards said, all violent crime is up 3% overall for the first three quarters of 2025.

That’s driven largely by an 89% increase in aggravated domestic assaults, but Edwards said that spike mostly reflects a change in how crime is reported rather than a major uptick in violence in Richmond households.

In the past, Edwards said, aggravated domestic assaults typically had to involve a weapon or serious bodily harm causing unconsciousness or inability to breathe. Under new guidance for crime reporting, RPD is now classifying strangulation attempts as aggravated domestic assaults.

“Any grabbing of the neck, any choking now counts as aggravated domestic assault,” Edwards said. “So obviously the numbers are going up.”

The chief said he wasn’t downplaying domestic violence as a problem, but wanted to offer context for why the overall violent crime number is up slightly even though broader trends show a decline.

Vape shops becoming targets for both cops and robbers

Commercial robberies are also up 14% so far in 2025, and police say a little more than a third involve vape shops that have rapidly spread throughout the city.

“We’re seeing very dangerous, very aggressive takeover-style robberies of these vape shops for a variety of reasons,” Edwards said. “They have large amounts of cash. And they have illegal marijuana on site. So they are becoming targets.”

Edwards said RPD has executed 10 search warrants at vape shops so far this year, seizing over 75 pounds of marijuana and other cannabis products. Police are also finding firearms at the stores, according to Edwards.

“And we understand why,” the chief said. “The clerks are arming themselves, because they’re also the targets of violence.”

Virginia’s laws on marijuana are muddled at the moment. It’s legal to possess and grow small amounts of the drug, and the state has a fairly small medical cannabis market. Despite that softening stance, Gov. Glenn Youngkin has refused to entertain the idea of legalizing recreational marijuana sales. With no legal avenue for retail sales, unregulated methods of buying marijuana appear to be flourishing.

Edwards said he and other law enforcement officials are in an "awkward phase” on marijuana, adding that city officials are doing what they can to go after vape shops in Richmond while awaiting further direction from the state.

“It's easier for our kids to buy marijuana at one of these shops than it is for them to buy beer at a convenience mart,” Edwards said. “There's no checking of IDs because they're not allowed to sell anything.”

Contact Reporter Graham Moomaw at gmoomaw@richmonder.org