Group says violence must end

By Rachana Dixit

Published: July 29, 2008

Angela Carr was close to Joshua Magruder. So when she found out that the 19-year-old city resident had been fatally shot on July 19, she decided that something needed to be done.

Now, partly as a result of her efforts, a city-based community group is setting up several committees to explore ways to better connect young people and spur community involvement.

“Everybody loved him,” said Carr, an intern for the city and the Charlottesville Quality Community Council, a citizen-driven group dedicated to improving the quality of life in Charlottesville’s most challenged neighborhoods.

The day after the shooting, Carr said, she approached the council about having a meeting to address neighborhood violence.

“We just need to stop,” she said. “Everybody is supposed to love each other.”

About 45 people attended the anti-violence meeting held Monday evening in response to Magruder’s shooting, the third city homicide of the year. The city saw the same number of homicides in 2006 and 2007.

Police have characterized the July 19 shooting as possibly gang related.

Karen Waters, executive director for the community council, said the meeting was designed to provide young residents with an opportunity to speak.

“The teenagers and young adults in this community have not really found a niche for themselves,” Waters said, adding that about 15 meeting attendees were teenagers and young adults.

Magruder’s body was found in the 700 block of Sixth Street Southeast on July 19 after a reported shooting. Four people have been arrested in connection with the shooting — Theodore Calvin Timberlake, 20, and Bobby Wayne Gardner Jr., 25, of Garrett Street; Trenton Michael Brock, 20, of Ridge Street; and Rachel Denise Turner, 25, of Reservoir Road. City police made the arrests the night of July 20 along with Albemarle County police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Later that same day, Calvin Earl Maupin, 18, of Page Street, and Robert Jason Burrell, 22, of Bailey Road, were arrested and charged in connection with a Page Street shooting where one person suffered a non-fatal gunshot wound to the chest. Police said the two shootings may be related.

Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy J. Longo said that from June 1, 2007, to May 31 there were 242 calls for shots fired in the city, an increase from 198 the year before.

“When looking at the three homicides we’ve had this year, all of them involve young people,” Longo said.

Prior to Monday’s meeting, Waters said she hoped to come away with some definite ideas on action the community can take to prevent similar violence.

During the meeting, three subcommittees were created to tackle the problem — one will address gun violence, at times working with the city’s police department; another will look into holding intergenerational events in the community; and the last will work on young adult recruitment for community involvement.

“Overwhelmingly we heard that there is not enough for older teenagers to do in Charlottesville,” Waters said.

Carr concurred.

“All this violence is happening because we’re bored,” she said.

Carr said she thinks a lot of the violence happens because of bad attitudes plaguing certain neighborhoods. She said many times young people cannot get good jobs but need money, so they resort to nefarious activities such as drug dealing.

A lack of good role models can make the situation worse, she said.

“I think the kids look up to the grown people,” Carr said. “But some people don’t have anyone to look up to.”

City spokesman Ric Barrick said the city is taking steps to prevent community violence. Last summer the city enacted curfew laws and trespassing restrictions for the public housing sites. Barrick said these moves may help in preventing neighborhood shootings.

“[Police] are pretty aggressively using those tactics to keep people out who aren’t supposed to be there,” Barrick said.

But Longo said solving the issue of violence in the community entails more than new police department strategies. “It’s more complex than that,” he said, adding that the message of putting guns down needs to spread.

Waters said another meeting will be held Aug. 16. The key to ultimately decreasing violence, she said, is to have a greater sense of respect for everyone in the community.

“We know it takes a long time to start a movement, but you can eventually shift people,” she said. “We’re willing to do whatever it takes.”