ROANOKE, Va. – Update:
The Roanoke Police Department released its end-of-year report, revealing that while some crimes have decreased in the city, others have increased.
Overall crime in Roanoke dropped by 13%, with notable declines in gun-related violence and aggravated assault, according to the report. However, robbery and non-gun-related homicides saw an uptick.
Kierston Cole, mother of Isaac Cunningham, knows the pain of gun violence firsthand. She lost her son Isaac in 2024, his father Ike in 2025, and just last Sunday, her second cousin Alex Andrews—all to gun violence.
“It changed my life drastically, I lost my child,” Cole said. She added, “But just to see so many of our men and young men and our children lose their lives behind this gun is heartbreaking. Where does it stop? They say it’s going down, I don’t see it, my family doesn’t see it, we don’t feel it.”
Despite the personal tragedies, Roanoke did see a decline in gun violence between 2024 and 2025, with one fewer homicide and seven fewer aggravated assaults, according to the police report.
Scott Booth, chief of Roanoke Police, called the decline in gun-related and nonfatal shootings “probably our greatest successes besides those overall crime reductions.”
Booth credited community engagement for the crime reduction. “We do what we call neighborhood-oriented policing. We have a lieutenant in charge of each of our quadrants, and that lieutenant acts like a continuation of me, the chief of police, connecting with people and identifying problems in the community,” he said.
He also highlighted a de-escalation model that has helped build trust. “We used 46% less force in 2025 than we did in 2024. Arrests can be messy, but I love that we have put in a de-escalation model that seems to be working very well for us and our community, so I’m very proud of that.”
Rita Joyce, founding member of Roanoke’s FEDUP, also lost her son to gun violence in 2004. She said she feels supported by the police and sheriff’s department but believes a cultural shift is needed.
“You can get a license to carry a gun, but that doesn’t mean it should be used when in the heat of the moment,” Joyce said. “Let’s put the guns down and work on conflict resolution. Lives matter, my son matters, another child’s life matters. Let’s put the gun down.”
Chief Booth acknowledged the year started rough with three homicides in just one week but cautioned against reading too much into short-term spikes.
When referring to the shooting that left two people dead on Sunday, Booth said, “The incident that happened a couple days ago, we had an officer that responded to that incident within 10 seconds. It breaks my heart that we have you know loss of life in our community, I hate it when it happens but the fact that the response is that gives me hope that for 2026 were going to keep our community safe and secure.“
Original:
The Roanoke Police Department has released its gun violence statistics report for 2025.
Last year, police responded to 25 gun violence incidents, according to the report. Of those, nine were classified as homicides, one fewer than in 2024. Aggravated assaults dropped notably, falling to 17 from 24 the previous year.
While violent crime declined, the report shows an increase in suicides involving firearms. There were 16 reported suicides in 2025, up from nine in 2024.
The report also highlights that gun violence incidents were concentrated in northwest Roanoke, where 14 were reported. Four incidents occurred in both the southeast and southwest, and three in the northeast.
Regarding timing, homicides, aggravated assaults, and domestic aggravated assaults most often occurred between 6 and 11 p.m., with 12 incidents reported during that period. Eight incidents happened between midnight and 5 a.m., four from noon to 5 p.m., and one from 6 to 11 a.m.
Of the 25 gun violence cases, 16 have been closed by arrest. Six remain under active investigation, one is inactive pending further leads, and two are closed by exception.