Roanoke City has seasoned a considerable improve in murders, with 26 currently reported in 2023, the highest quantity considering the fact that the 1970s. Nicole Ross, a member of the outreach and assistance group FEDUP and Roanoke City’s Gun Violence Prevention Commission, expressed her issues about the influence of gun violence on the neighborhood. She believes that the neighborhood is becoming desensitized to the violence and shared a private encounter of witnessing gunshots at the Melrose library. Ross highlighted aspects such as poverty, unemployment, and untreated mental overall health concerns as contributors to the violence. She emphasized the need to have for a adjust in the culture and encouraged the neighborhood to come collectively and assistance one particular yet another in order to combat the anger and hurt that leads to violence.