DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Daytona Beach's police chief announced on Friday that residents could expect to see more officers around town as the agency works to combat a recent rise in violent crimes.
- Chief Capri: "We are going to come after them tonight"
- Sheriff's Office, FDLE partners helping to get spike in gun violence under control
- More Volusia County news
In the last two weeks, Daytona Beach has seen a spike in violent crime. Three people were shot and killed in the midtown area — all just within a five-minute drive of each other.
The first happened on Nov. 17, where the victim was shot during an attempted armed robbery in the driveway of a home on Margie lane. The second shooting was on the 23rd. An 18-year-old was shot, then crashed into Campbell Middle school.
The third victim was shot Wednesday night, coming out of his home after hearing gunfire outside his home on North Franklin Street.
To deal with this outbreak of gun violence, Police Chief Craig Capri says you can expect to see more law enforcement around town as they are stepping up their crime initiatives.
"It bothers me, it upsets me that these things happen but now it’s time to focus on getting these killers in custody, and then all the other criminals who maybe want to look at this as an opportunity to run around the streets and act stupid," said Capri. "We are going to come after them tonight, we are going to lock them up, we have plenty of room to put them, and we are not going to let street thugs think they are going to run the streets, I'll tell you that right now I promise you that.”
He claimed their partners with the sheriff’s office and the FDLE are helping them get this spike in gun violence under control, while getting closure for the families of the victims.
“We’ve stepped up our efforts without violent crime initiatives, and we have police officers that are going to be out around the clock," said Capri. "We are just being very aggressive out there looking for crime. Following up on some of the information that I can’t release now, looking for a few people and with our partners with the sheriff’s office and our federal and state partners at FDLE, we’ll be out in force all week here.”
While the chief could not share much information about the individual cases as they are still under active investigation, he did announce that at least one of the victims knew their suspected shooter.
Chief Capri said he is also really relying on the help of the public to get these killers behind bars. There is a $10,000 reward on each of these cases for information leading to an arrest. The chief says they’ve already gotten some good information so far— and believes they will start making arrests sooner than he expected.
Overall, Capri said violent crime in Daytona Beach is down and he believes families should still feel safe.