Courtesy Richmond Confidential

Representatives from the Richmond Police Department, the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office, the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office and the Richmond City Council jointly announced today the creation of a new gang task force aimed at ending a recent rise in gun violence in the area.

"Over the past several months, several neighborhoods in Richmond and unincorporated North Richmond have been significantly affected by a spike in gun violence," Richmond police Chief Chris Magnus said.

He said much of the violence has involved retaliatory shootings between young men from rival gangs or street groups that have been targeting each other.

So far this month there have been eight homicides in Richmond and nine other shootings, Magnus said.

There has also been one homicide and several shootings in unincorporated North Richmond. The new gang task force, which is a collaboration between the Richmond Police Department and the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office, is being created in an effort to disrupt the cycle of retaliation, Magnus said.

Richmond police officers will be riding in patrol cars with sheriff's deputies and focusing on specific problem areas in the city as well as individuals believed to be involved in committing crimes, Magnus said.

Investigators from both departments will be working together to investigate the crimes and will be meeting regularly to share information, identify suspects and build criminal cases against them, Magnus said.

The two departments will also be working closely with the district attorney's office to prosecute the crimes.

Deputy District Attorney Tom Kensok said the district attorney's office would be aggressively prosecuting gang members and has recently doubled the size of the office's gang unit.

However, he noted that law enforcement needed help from the community to be able to address the problem of violence in Richmond.

"We are not going to arrest and prosecute our way out of this problem," Kensok said.

He said the city needed community involvement to be able to stop the culture of retaliatory shootings.

Magnus, Contra Costa County Sheriff's Cmdr. Donny Gordon and city officials also emphasized the need for community members to help stop the violence, solve crimes, prosecute the people committing them and ultimately prevent criminal activity.

Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin said the city is continuing to work hard to reach out to young people who are at risk of becoming involved in criminal activity and offer them better alternatives through job training programs and other social services.

"Eventually the positive will outweigh the negative," McLaughlin said.

"We are pleading with you to put down your guns" and come take advantage of city services, Councilman Jeff Ritterman said. Councilwoman Jovanka Beckles said she was outraged by the recent violence and urged community members to call police if they had information on any of the recent shootings.

"This is not a photo op for me," Councilman Courtland "Corky" Booze said. "These are my people who are dying in the streets."

The news conference this afternoon was held at the site of the city's most recent homicide, which happened at 11:40 a.m. Wednesday at Fifth Street and Nevin Avenue across the street from a community center where a group of young children were attending summer camp.

A gunman reportedly got out of his vehicle and began shooting at the victim, 20-year-old Richmond resident Daryl Russell Jr., while the children began screaming and running inside.

"I have listened to the ShotSpotter recording of this shooting and it is chilling to hear the screams of children as young as 5 and 6 years old running off the playground and into the shelter of the Nevin Center. This is absolutely outrageous and will not be tolerated," Magnus said.

Richmond resident Lena Henderson said her 7-year-old daughter was among the children who witnessed the shooting.

She said she believed her daughter was traumatized by what she saw and that she was too afraid to send her back to summer camp today.

Booze said Russell's mother had buried another son two years ago after he, too, was shot and killed.

"This community has been dealing with this kind of violence for decades," Magnus said.

He said that there was no single solution to the problem, but that the city, community groups and law enforcement were working to address the problem from multiple angles.

The Richmond Police Department is offering rewards of up to $20,000 for information leading to the arrest and charging of people involved in these murders, Magnus said.

Reward money is also available for information that helps police prevent any new murders from being committed.

Anyone with information is asked to call the police department's tip line at (510) 232-TIPS. People can also send tips by text message or email to Tips2RPD@richmondpd.net.

People can also provide tips through the sheriff's office tip line at (866) 846-3592.