Roanoke named its first youth and gang violence prevention coordinator as another shooting took another life.
The hiring of Christopher Roberts was made public Thursday, the same day officials identified a 21-year-old woman fatally shot early Wednesday on Melrose Avenue, according to police.
The incident, which police said occurred Wednesday about 12:15 a.m., was the 53rd shooting causing an injury or death reported in the city this year, according to a Roanoke Times analysis. A man was also found shot around the same time and place as a result of the most recent incident, but he survived, according to police.
Roanoke officials hope that stepping up prevention strategies will reduce shootings, but acknowledged Thursday that the violence is continuing.
In the job he will be leaving, Roberts, 46, is an official with the Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice in Roanoke who supervises probation officers monitoring individuals age 14 to 21.
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His new job will be to coordinate “the awareness, suppression, intervention and prevention of youth and gang-related activity,” according to a city news release.
He will integrate the efforts of all city departments, community groups, stakeholders, and agencies toward that goal, the release said.
He has experience working with youths, families and community leaders and will be tasked with public education, networking, data collection and project implementation, the release said. Roberts is a Roanoke native.
The city won a $500,000 grant in a competitive solicitation to find localities ready to intervene and prevent gun violence. Such programs “avert interpersonal violence by working with a range of community stakeholders to provide support and intervention to those at highest risk of being a victim and/or perpetrator of violence,” according to the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services, the grant-making organization.
Roberts, who will receive an initial annual salary of $60,000, will be paid through grant funds.