When shots rang out on McGee Street downtown last Sunday afternoon, police raced to the scene to find a woman in critical condition. They chased her and exchanged fire with the alleged assailant, Richard Bernard Hovis, 44, critically wounding him. He later died of his wounds. The woman, whom the department has not named, remains in stable but critical condition.
By itself, the crime was a single instance the most common type of violence—a dispute between two people who knew each other — that happened to spill into the street in broad daylight. But it capped a month of dramatic violent incidents all across the city, featuring victims of varying ages, races, and socioeconomic statuses.
- A mass shooting at a packed banquet hall that injured 9 people—four of them teenagers.
- A 46-year-old man shot and killed in front of his home in southeast Greensboro.
- Two women in their 70s shot and killed in the affluent Grandover community after giving aid to a woman experiencing domestic violence.
- A non-fatal stabbing and assault at the Four Seasons Town Centre. Two men, 19 and 20, were charged.
- Videos circulating on social media weekly of people brawling in the streets downtown late at night as others cheer them on and capture the scene with their phones.
The city has seen 19 homicides so far this year. That’s ten fewer than the city had seen by this time last year. The Greensboro Police Department’s clearance rate for homicides is now 83%, up over 71% this time last year. But a recent spike in homicides, along with actual year-over-year increases in other categories of violent crimes, has rattled residents and city leaders alike.
“Over the past several weeks, our community has experienced serious acts of violence,” City Manager Nathaniel “Trey” Davis wrote in a lengthy public statement Monday. “They have left victims and families dealing with pain and trauma, and they have understandably created fear and concern among residents across Greensboro. My thoughts remain with everyone who has been directly affected.”
Greensboro Police Chief Kamran Afzal shared key crime statistics with the Greensboro City Council at its meeting Tuesday.
Aggravated shootings are up from from 62 this time last year to 78. The total number of victims is up from 70 this time last year to 98. Summer often sees a spike in violent crime nationwide and Greensboro has been no exception this year. The last 90 days have been particularly bloody, with 35 shootings involving 45 victims.
The crime data the police department usually makes publicly available in a weekly report has not been updated since June. The department hopes to resume those reports soon, a department spokesperson told The Assembly
“We cannot allow repeated acts of violence to become something our community simply learns to live with,” Davis, himself a former police officer, wrote in his message. “They demand our attention and a coordinated response from the City.”
Davis and Afzal are working on a response using current police resources and concentrating on areas that have seen the most violence, Davis said in his statement.
“Chief Afzal is directing GPD to strengthen coordination among patrol, investigations, crime-gun intelligence, violent-offender enforcement and other specialized resources,” David wrote. “The approach will be driven by what the information is telling us. Where is violence occurring? Are there repeat locations or patterns? Is there a threat of retaliation? Are particular individuals driving violence or connected to multiple incidents? What do investigators need to resolve cases and hold offenders accountable? Those questions should determine where we focus resources.”
Last month, Mayor Marikay Abuzuaiter suggested a youth curfew to address repeated incidents of violence. While the council and city staff are considering what such an ordinance could look like, the proposal has had little vocal support from Abuzuaiter’s fellow council members and pushback from local youth and community members who say teenagers don’t seem to be at the heart of the problem.
Greensboro City Councilmember Adam Marshall said he agrees.
“This doesn’t really seem to be a youth problem,” he told The Assembly this week. “I feel like the youth in our community meeting on this made a good point. We’re a college town. Are we going to have a curfew and include college freshmen in that? You come to college, you come to our city, and you’re dealing with a curfew? That’s not what college is about.”
Councilmember Crystal Black addressed what she called “a gap” between 18-year-olds and 21-year-olds that shouldn’t be blamed on all local teens.
“I do have some concerns about our local bars inviting 18-year-olds into a space that’s really more for people who are 21 and up and would like that to be part of the discussion when we are looking for those places downtown so we can provide spaces for everywhere to go. Maybe that’s where we work with some of our local colleges.”
Afzal agreed, saying his department isn’t seeing many juveniles involved in the problems downtown.
Councilman Irving Allen began his career as a community organizer helping to create safe spaces for teens and young people. It was a community effort with weekly meetings that resulted in an area downtown specifically for young people, to keep them out of the kind of trouble that’s now being discussed.
“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” Allen said. “We’ve done these things before.”
Allen was downtown eating with his daughter last weekend when the shooting happened there, he said. He and the other council members are experiencing these incidents along with every other resident, he said, and everyone has to be part of a soluton.
“This is both a short term and a long-term discussion we’re going to have to have,” Allen said.
Last weekend’s downtown shooting happened in District 4, which Marshall represents. The alleged shooter was in his forties, Marshall said, but it was not part of continuing fights downtown after bars and clubs let out.
“I think that and some of the other information we have is showing us this isn’t a youth problem, it’s a violence problem,” Marshall said. “Even if we did have a problem involving young people, I don’t usually like a solution that punishes everyone for a few bad actors.”
Fully understanding the problem—from the areas most impacted to its causes—is an essential first step, Marshall said.
“What I want to do is look at this holistically,” Marshall said at Tuesday’s council meeting. “I don’t want to have a knee jerk reaction. We should take a look at the data, our current policies, and see if policy changes are warranted, and if so, what kind? Additionally, we should be having discussions around violent crime in our communities throughout Greensboro.”
Afzal agreed in his remarks before council Tuesday. The department recently got approval for two more crime analysts, he said, who will help them identify patterns.
“We have to identify the people and circumstances driving violence, investigate these cases thoroughly and hold offenders accountable,” Afzal said. “But enforcement alone will not solve this.”
“Preventing the next act of violence also requires families, schools, neighborhoods, businesses, faith leaders and community organizations working with us to intervene before
conflicts escalate,” Afzal said.
The city’s response cannot be a temporary one that “disappears when public attention moves on,” Davis wrote in his message.
“We cannot accept violence as normal in our community,” he wrote. “And we will not.”
