29 Jan ‘To Try Nothing Would Be Ridiculous’: Antioch Council Hears Strategies to Reduce Gun Violence

“From our standpoint, Antioch doesn’t have a gun violence problem. There is a particular two square mile radius that has consistently, for the last 10 years, suffered the vast majority of gun violence,” Refujio Rodriguez of the Hope and Heal Fund told City Council on Tuesday. (Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

In Antioch, up to 50 people could land themselves on a list that identifies those most at-risk of shooting someone or being shot. At least, that’s one of almost a dozen recommendations to reduce gun violence in the city.

The Hope and Heal Fund, which presented recommendations to the City Council on Tuesday, said similar strategies reduced gun violence by up to 55% in other cities. Many of the recommendations are already in motion, said council member Tamisha Torres-Walker.

“It would be great to be able to get the full package [of recommendations], and what works in another city might not work here in Antioch, but to try nothing would be ridiculous,” said Torres-Wallker.

The organization’s recommendations suggest banning “ghost gun” parts and kits, which are privately made and don’t have a serial number, meaning law enforcement can’t trace them; providing those on the at-risk list with “intensive” mentorship; and converting the Sycamore Corridor — considered one of the most, if not the most, violent areas in the city — into a thriving business district.

It comes on the heels of the city’s lowest number of homicides since 2011, according to data from the Antioch Police Department, but that was only a year after Hope and Heal found the city had also recorded the highest number of gun violence incidents in the last decade.

Dubbed the “new Oakland” by one business owner due to an uptick in shootings in 2024, Antioch’s reputation of being unsafe due to gun violence has persisted for years. The city started the year off with two shootings this month; one involved an 11-year-old girl being shot in the head.

A decrease in homicides is happening statewide as well, including in cities — Oakland and Richmond — where gun violence intervention frameworks have been adopted. Richmond recorded its lowest homicide number on record and Oakland recorded its lowest in over 55 years.

But while homicides overall dipped last year, Torres-Walker said “violence is never down” for some areas.

Data collected by the Hope and Heal Fund shows that “hot spots” for gun violence are in the north-central and central parts of the city, accounting for 44% of gun violence incidents between 2014 and 2024.

“From our standpoint, Antioch doesn’t have a gun violence problem. There is a particular two square mile radius that has consistently, for the last 10 years, suffered the vast majority of gun violence,” said Refujio Rodriguez of the Hope and Heal Fund.

Adult residents reported feeling unsafe in areas like the Sycamore Corridor and Cavallo Road, according to survey results presented by the nonprofit research firm Evident Change.

The city committed to bringing a police substation to the Sycamore Corridor last year to increase the visibility of police, though the area is still underresourced in other ways. For that, the county’s African American Holistic Wellness and Resource Hub has been proposed to be located on Cavallo Road.

And residents’ health isn’t just impacted by gun violence. Economically, gun violence can hurt the creation and growth of business and development.

“I can go two blocks and a house is $600,000, then a condo is under $300,000,” said Rodriguez. “I’m pretty sure that’s associated with gun violence.”

Mayor Pro Tem Don Freitas and Torres-Walker noted that they will have to take into consideration the budget deficit the city is facing when deciding how to move forward with anything.

One of the programs already in place to respond to conflict before it escalates to gun violence is the Angelo Quinto Community Response Team, which in part provides community conflict mediation, received an additional $408,984 in American Rescue Plan Act funding. That’s months after council members cut those services in half because of a budget deficit.

Because the presentations and recommendations were informational, council members did not vote on the gun violence recommendations.

Council member addresses hit-and-run that killed teenage girl

Council member Tamisha Torres-Walker reassured residents that work is being done “behind the scenes” that they don’t see, after one resident raised concerns about the city’s silence on a recent hit-and-run that killed a teenager.

A resident who only identified herself as Ashely expressed frustration with council members for not making any public statements about the 17-year-old girl who was found dead on the side of the road on Friday.

“We look like nobody cares here and that we are a lawless city where children now are either killed or shot,” said Ashley, who also referred to the 11-year-old girl shot in the head on Jan. 5.

Officials said that the teenager in the hit-and-run, Jeana Flores, was killed as a result of the incident, which was first considered a “suspicious death.”

Torres-Walker said that she has plans to attend a meeting where she’ll be asking questions about capital improvement projects involving traffic calming measures.

“I would like to ask for grace, consideration because I know these things aren’t easy. When you often think that nothing is happening, it’s just because you don’t see it, and it’s also not being written on the blogs,” said Torres-Walker.

In 2023, the City Council approved a number of traffic calming improvements to reduce traffic fatalities.