FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 5, 2026
Media Contact: Bryan Hooten, 804-807-1727, bryan.hooten@vdh.virginia gov

Richmond and Henrico Health Districts Share Firearm Safety Tips

ብሔራዊ የሽጉጥ ጥቃት ግንዛቤ ቀን ሰኔ 5ነው

RICHMOND, Va. — Richmond and Henrico Health Districts (RHHD) encourage you to take steps to prevent firearm injury and death. National Gun Violence Awareness Day is June 5 and marks the start of Wear Orange Weekend, June 5-7. Firearm-related injuries and deaths are a major public health concern for families and neighborhoods in Richmond City, Henrico County, and across Virginia. RHHD urges residents and partners to support prevention efforts that build safer, healthier communities.

“Community safety means prevention, response, and healing,” said Tamara Jones-Groves, population pealth manager at Richmond and Henrico Health Districts. “National Gun Violence Awareness Day gives us an opportunity to share practical steps—like safe firearm storage—and support families and communities impacted by violence.”

Firearm safety tips

• የተራገፉ እና የተቆለፉትን ሽጉጦች ያከማቹ በሽጉጥ የተጠበቀ፣ በተቆለፈ ሳጥን፣ ቀስቅሴ ወይም
  ክፍል መቆለፊያ።
• ጥይቶችን ከጦር መሣሪያዎ በተለየ ቦታ ያከማቹ እና ይቆልፉ።
• Remove firearms from your home if you have a depressed or suicidal family member.

Firearm safety tips for parents and caregivers

• ልጅዎን ወደ አንድ ሰው ቤት ከመላክዎ በፊት,
• እቤት ውስጥ ያሉ የጦር መሳሪያዎች ሳይጫኑ እና እንደተቆለፉ ይጠይቁ።
• ጥይቱ በተናጠል የተከማቸ መሆኑን ይጠይቁ.
• ጠመንጃዎች ብቻ ሳይሆን እቤት ውስጥም ሽጉጥ እና ጠመንጃዎች እንዳሉ ይጠይቁ።
• የሌላ ሰው ቤት
  በተመለከተ ጥርጣሬ ካለዎት ልጆቹን በቤትዎ እንዲጫወቱ ይጋብዙ።
• ስለ ስጋት ከልጅዎ ጋር ይነጋገሩ።
• በሚጎበኙበት ወይም በሚጫወቱበት ቦታ ከልጆችዎ ጋር ስለ ሽጉጥ ጉዳት ስጋት ይንገሩ።
• ልጅዎን መሳሪያ ካገኘ ብቻውን እንዲተወው እና ወዲያውኑ ለአዋቂ ሰው እንዲናገር አስተምሩት።
• ልጅዎን ሌላ ልጅ መሳሪያ ካሳያቸው ክፍሉን ለቀው ወዲያውኑ ለአዋቂ ሰው እንዲናገሩ አስተምሩት።

Richmond City and Henrico County firearm injury emergency department and death data

According to VDH Firearm Injury and Death data, in 2025 there were 261 emergency department visits by Richmond residents for firearm injury – down from 361 visits in 2024. There were 71 firearm deaths in Richmond city in 2023 – up from 64 in 2022. During the years 2019 – 2023, 246 (74%) of these deaths were homicides and 81 (24%) were suicides.

In 2025 there were 120 emergency department visits by Henrico County residents for firearm injury – up from 115 visits in 2024. There were 43 firearm deaths in Henrico County in 2023 – down from 61 in 2022. During the years 2019 – 2023, 122 (51%) of these deaths were homicides and 111 (46%) were suicides.

Note on 2024 death data: A federal government shutdown occurred from October 1, 2025, to November 12, 2025. During this time, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) was affected. Because NCHS finalizes death certificate data, there were delays in finalizing death certificate records. Data for 2024 will be added to the dashboard when final data are available.

If you or a loved one is in crisis, please call 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

የአሰቃቂ ሁኔታ ፈውስ ምላሽ አውታረ መረብ

RHHD ለአሰቃቂ የፈውስ ምላሽ አውታረ መረብ (THRN) ኦፕሬቲንግ ወኪል ሆኖ የሚያገለግል እና THRNን እንደ አጠቃላይ የጠመንጃ ጥቃት መከላከል ፕሮግራም አካል ነው። የRHHD የብጥብጥ መከላከል ፕሮግራም ስራ አስኪያጅ እና የአሰቃቂ ሁኔታ ፈውስ ምላሽ መረብ አስተባባሪ THRN አጋር ድርጅቶችን ይለያሉ፣ ለተጎዱ ቤተሰቦች በሚሰጧቸው ተግባራት እና አገልግሎቶች ላይ በመመስረት የገንዘብ ድጎማዎችን ይወስኑ፣ በጠመንጃ ጥቃት የተጎዱ ቤተሰቦች ከሚገኙባቸው ትምህርት ቤቶች ጋር ይገናኛሉ፣ እና THRN መረጃ አሰባሰብ እና ግምገማን ያስተዳድራል።

THRN supports three critical pillars of the City of Richmond’s Gun Violence Prevention and Intervention Framework:

• የችግር ጣልቃገብነት እና በአገልግሎቶች ዙሪያ መጠቅለል
• የተጠናከረ የጉዳይ አስተዳደር
• ታማኝ መልእክተኞች

THRN በማስረጃ ላይ በተደገፈ በአሰቃቂ ሁኔታ በመረጃ መነፅር ፈውስን ለማመቻቸት እና ለጠመንጃ ጥቃት ምላሽ ለመስጠት ማህበረሰቡን መሰረት ያደረጉ፣ ባህላዊ ምላሽ ሰጪ፣ በነዋሪዎች የሚመሩ ፕሮግራሞችን ያስተባብራል፣ ይከታተላል እና ይቆጣጠራል።

THRN ከተጎዱ ቤተሰቦች ጋር ያለው የመጀመሪያ ግንኙነት ብዙውን ጊዜ የሚከሰተው በጠመንጃ ጥቃት ምክንያት ወዲያውኑ ነው። THRN የሚያስፈልጋቸውን ነገር ለመወሰን እና ለመቀበል ዝግጁ የሆኑትን ለመወሰን የቤተሰቡን lead ይከተላል። THRN ድጋፍ በአጋር ድርጅቶች በኩል ሰዎችን ከአገልግሎቶች ጋር ያገናኛል; የጠመንጃ ጥቃት ክስተት ተከትሎ የጉዳይ አስተዳደር 60 ቀናት; እና/ወይም ከረጅም ጊዜ የአእምሮ ጤና እና የማገገም አገልግሎቶች ጋር ግንኙነቶች።

In fiscal year 2026 (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026) to date, THRN network partners:

• Provided more than 927 Community Wellness Checks
• Served 880 families
• ለድንገተኛ አደጋ ገንዘቦች $35 ፣ 060 የቀረበ፣ ለተጎዱ ቤተሰቦች የሚውል ነው።
• Supported 10 relocations
• Responded to 126 relief requests with 111 approved relief decisions (88.1% approval)
• Prevented four retaliations
• Provided 40 grief support groups
• Responded to 52 shootings

More information about the Trauma Healing Response Network is available at THRN’s Instagram and Facebook pages. For details about the RHHD Violence Prevention Program, contact Tamara Jones-Groves at Tamara.Jones-Groves@vdh.virginia.gov or call 804-774-9776.

# # #

ሪችመንድ እና ሄንሪኮ ጤና ዲስትሪክቶች (RHHD) እህት የህዝብ ጤና ኤጀንሲዎች የተገናኙትን ማህበረሰቦቻችንን ያገለግላሉ። የእኛ ተልእኮ ጤናን፣ ሻምፒዮን ፍትሃዊነትን እና የአካባቢ ፍላጎቶችን ለማሟላት አጋርን መጠበቅ ነው።

rhhd.gov | henrico.gov/health | RHHD Facebook | IG: @richmondcity_hd