Mayor Todd Gloria, City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera and San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit held a press conference at city hall Wednesday to address what they call, “a recent uptick in deadly shootings” and asked for San Diegans, “to work with the city and SDPD to combat rising violent crime citywide."
SDPD reports 10 homicides in San Diego, since the beginning of 2022, a reported 80% increase from over the same period last year. As well as 44 non-fatal shootings and multiple assaults. Additionally, during the first two months of the year, police have recovered 372 firearms, 77 of which were city-banned ghost guns.
Gloria’s office provided the following list of nine homicides, in the hopes that the public will come forward with tips that can aid the investigations.
- Martin Andara, 68, on Jan. 1
- Rodrigo Diaz-Perez, 27, on Jan. 1
- Fatima Cedillo, 22, on Jan. 15
- Erick Balanzar, 14, on Jan. 31
- Jacob Harvey, 29, on Feb. 2
- Roger Jauron, 57, on Feb. 8
- Abram Santos, 36, on Feb. 13
- Jimmie Lee Roberts, 27, on Feb. 15
- Kyle Delangel, 37, on Feb. 19
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Not all of the cases above involved gun violence, but city leaders seemed focused on it as the major factor for the uptick in murder investigations.
“We can find bad people and hold them accountable. What we need is the public’s help in making sure that we can identify individuals and bring them to justice. What I’m saying and I want you to hear me very clearly. There will be consequences for bad actions in this city. Whether it’s in Mt. Hope, Sabre Springs, or Kearney Mesa, we will hold people accountable,” Gloria said.
City council president Sean Elo-Rivera stood alongside the mayor and police chief to talk about other factors that have been contributing to gun violence, including the halt of youth recreational programs during the pandemic.
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Nisleit and Gloria mentioned they plan to continue including better street lighting to deter crime, continuing recreational programming targeting young men susceptible to gang violence, and the ghost gun legislation that the city council recently passed.
