RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Police said Wednesday that an investigation is underway after a 30-year-old man was killed and a woman was hurt in a double shooting at a Richmond motel over the weekend.
The weekend motel shooting is the third in the Central Virginia area since December.
An officer responded to the Midlothian Inn, in the 6500 block of Midlothian Turnpike, at 12:41 p.m. on Jan. 18 for reports of a person who was shot. A victim, later identified as Robert Davis of Richmond, was found with a gunshot wound to his neck, police told 8News.
Davis was taken to the hospital and later pronounced dead. Another victim, only identified as an adult female, was also shot, police said. The woman was treated for a non-life threatening gunshot wound and released from the hospital.
Richmond City councilmember Mike Jones has been working with police to push for a change in these communities since July and he’s getting tired of this continuing to happen.
“We just want to enjoy life, we want to go home, go to work, come back, everything’s in the same place that we left it,” Councilman Jones said. “Residents of the 9th district, they should not feel as if these motels are dragging down their property value, that they’re not safe.”
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Three motel shootings have occurred since last December. Police responded to a shooting incident at a motel in Henrico, prior to the two motel shootings in Richmond.
People around the motels tell 8News they’re too afraid to walk the premise after a certain time, and Councilman Jones says a problem is that in a lot of these instances, the people committing the crimes are not residents of the city of Richmond.
It’s why he’s working with police to put an end to this because he says his district is a safe one.
“We have a code enforcement sweep that’s going to take place where we’re going to have code enforcement officials out just doing a sweep,” Councilman Jones said. “Hey clean up your neighborhood, clean up your business, clean up this area to make sure the businesses are taking care of their responsibility.”
Sweeps will be taking place in February and March covering multiple spots throughout the 9th district, and Councilman Jones says there have been a lot of improvements since they began working with the motel owners six months ago. He says more needs to be done, however.
“One is too many, two are too many and they’re not just isolated incidents so we just want it gone. Do not bring crime in the city of Richmond, stay where you are,” Councilman Jones said.
The shooting at Midlothian Inn is still under investigation and anyone with information is urged to contact police immediately.
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