PORTSMOUTH, Va. — After a man was killed in a shooting in Portsmouth Wednesday night, city officials are vowing to bring change with the newly created crime and gun violence commission.
According to police, the shooting happened on the 60 block of Dale Drive, leaving 45-year-old Edward Lamont Santiful dead.
“It’s a disappointing situation for sure,” said Portsmouth Mayor Shannon Glover.
The shooting comes just one day after city council members voted to create the task force, which passed unanimously. Glover said it will consist of nine members who will meet on a monthly basis.
“These folks will be the frontline people that will gather and bring information and ideas,” Glover told 13News Now.
Glover said the idea behind creating the group came from a 2022 study.
"By the Bloomberg Harvard City Initiative that we held," he said. "We had an individual come and we worked collaboratively with that individual to look at the approach and the report came back. It's a whole community approach to reducing youth and gun violence."
Mayor Glovers said Portsmouth has many organizations and advocates fighting for violence prevention. He said this task force will add to their work.
“What this task force will do, in addition to what was already created, it will bring stakeholders in the community together from different walks of life,” he said.
Glover said council members will meet in a couple of weeks to talk about the timeline of when this board will take shape.