LYNCHBURG, VA – Lynchburg is no stranger to violence - but in under two weeks, we’ve seen four homicides.
“What have you noticed the past few weeks about this community?” 10 News Reporter Abbie Coleman asked.
“Oh, people are really shocked. People I’ve talked to are shocked and most of them are fed up with such violence,” One Community, One Voice Director James Camm said.
James Camm is the director of one community one voice. He tells us he sees a pattern.
“People are using permanent solutions to deal with temporary situations,” he said.
The string of violence started September 30th with the shooting deaths of Cash Gaudio and Christina Hamilton.
The next day, Anthony Davis was shot and killed.
“It’s just really devastating,” Camm said.
But it didn’t end there. One week later, Clifford Carter was stabbed to death, and the next day, two men were arrested for shooting into a home.
“How does that beat down on the community?” Coleman asked.
“It just says, ‘What’s next?’” Camm said.
“This is something we’ve dealt with for years and years and years but it keeps happening. I know we’ve made lots of changes: we’ve had curfews, we’ve had cameras, but what needs to still change moving forward?” Coleman asked.
“Giving people more hope. Making sure that they get opportunities. I think that some people feel there’s no more hope, and find themselves going in the wrong direction, but I think finding them the jobs, finding them the trades, giving them the opportunity. I think it makes people more successful,” Camm said.
Camm also believes in the power of the ‘Community Eye’ - a program aimed at getting security cameras in the hands of neighbors.
“If we could hand them out to all the areas, I think it would stamp out a lot of bad behavior,” he said.
“These people that have guns and are committing these acts of violence are in the areas that they know have cameras. Do you think that deters them from pulling out that gun?” Coleman asked.
“Any time we get on a camera, we change our whole perspective, attitude and actions,” Camm said.
So far, One Community, One Voice has handed out 50 cameras - and they just got another shipment of 50 more.
You can request a camera by contacting One Community, One Voice here.
If you would like to donate to the cause, click here.