Patrick Jenkins, a 38-year-old father of two, was murdered in Richmond, VA, on Easter Day by 34-year-old Roderick Bugg. The horrific incident occurred just a week after Jenkins moved to Richmond.
A loved one, speaking about Patrick, said, “It just saddens us because he was taken from us way earlier than anybody expected. Patrick was a great brother and he’ll really be missed.” Similarly, his mother said, “I’m going to miss Patrick. We were really close. I’ll miss him joking with me and making me laugh.”
Jenkins’ family also described him as a fun and loving man and a devoted brother with an amazing work ethic. But that bright life was snuffed out prematurely by Bugg.
WTVR, describing Bugg’s arrest after a SWAT team was called to deal with him barricaded in a house, reported:
Officers noticed an armed man on Bethel Street that afternoon who was wanted on several charges, officials with Richmond Police said in a news release Friday.
Police said 19-year-old Kerell Boone ran into a home and that additional police resources were called to the scene, including the SWAT team.
Boone later surrendered peacefully and was charged with assault and weapons violations, according to police.
And at the same time, police said a suspect in a Mechanicsville Turnpike homicide earlier this month was found in a nearby home.
Officers said 34-year-old Roderick Bugg also peacefully surrendered and was charged with malicious shooting into an occupied vehicle and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
This was far from Bugg’s first crime. He was a felon because of an armed robbery he committed in 2016 with the help of two other men. When he was arrested for armed robbery in 2016, police say that Bugg, a convicted felon who possessed a firearm despite his crime, robbed the victim with the help of two other men. One of the suspects walked up to the victim and pulled a gun on him, taking his wallet. A second suspect took a slice of pizza from the box.
Richmond has a very problematic crime situation, with overall crime somewhat on the decline as shootings have risen in frequency, as WRIC noted in its report on the police chief’s press conference, saying:
In a press conference on Wednesday, Richmond’s Chief of Police, Rick Edwards, announced that violent crimes had, overall, remained low last year, but the department would be focusing on getting illegal firearms off the streets in 2023.
In his first crime briefing as Acting Chief, Edwards said the city’s murder rate had declined in 2022.
“In 2021, we had 90 murders. Last year, we had 59,” Edwards said. “That’s a 34% reduction.”
However, Edwards also said that there had been an uptick in non-deadly shootings — with 256 in 2022 compared to 244 in 2021. As a result, he announced that the department would be focusing on a number of hotspots in the city — including Whitcomb, Creighton, Fairfield, Gilpin and Mosby Courts as well as the Belt Atlantic Apartments.
Featured image credit: Richmond Police Department
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