Roanoke shootings still trending down, while gun thefts now at issue

As homicides and non-fatal shootings trend down in Roanoke, gun thefts — including a midday rifle theft from a gun store — continue to be a problem.

The Roanoke Police Department compared shooting data from both 2023 and 2024 and found that this year the city has seen "a 67% reduction in fatal shootings" and "a 53% reduction in non-fatal shootings," according to the latest gun violence statistics report.

Between Jan. 1 and Sept. 15, police responded to "21 incidents of gun violence where an individual was struck by gunfire during a criminal offense," the report reads. In the same time frame in 2023, there were 52 incidents.

While gun-related homicides and aggravated assaults are down, gun-related suicides in Roanoke are up. Between Jan. 1 and Sept. 15 the city recorded six suicides by firearm — two in the northeast zone, one in the southwest and three in the northwest. During that same time frame in 2023, there were only two, both in the northwest.

The statistics report, which is produced monthly, started to include suicide data earlier this year at the request of Roanoke's Gun Violence Prevention Commission members. Also new to the document is a graphic displaying firearm theft and recovery locations within city limits.

So far this year, at least 46 firearm thefts have occurred in Roanoke. Thirty-six of those incidents targeted vehicles, nine targeted residences and one targeted a business.

"We do see the vast majority of stolen firearms happen from motor vehicle thefts," Capt. Eric Thiel said during Tuesday's commission meeting. "Probably 90% of those are unlocked vehicles."

Thiel said that whenever Roanoke police seize a firearm, the department traces the gun with help from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The captain said the department has recovered guns during criminal offenses that were originally straw purchases, but "it kind of runs the whole gamut."

"We do recover a fair amount of stolen firearms — firearms that end up stolen here and used in crimes here in the city, firearms that are stolen from other jurisdictions that end up being recovered from other local jurisdictions, other states," he said.

Thiel said the department encourages citizens to lock up their guns, cars and homes.

"Nine burglaries where firearms were stolen, and I want to say, just off the top of my head, year-to-date, we're right around 300 burglaries total for the entire city," he said. "There's a very small amount of actual burglaries themselves that lead to those firearms then entering the black market and being used in crimes."

One of the city's most recent gun thefts occurred shortly after 11 a.m. Sept. 5, according to a search warrant affidavit. Police were called to SafeSide Tactical, a gun store and shooting range in the 1200 block of Shenandoah Avenue Northwest, because someone had stolen an AR-15-style rifle.

Investigating officers spoke with store employees and learned that the suspect, a male wearing black baggy pants and carrying a black backpack, left the retail store with the gun in his hands without paying for it, according to the affidavit.

Employees told officers that the man had walked toward Centre Avenue Northwest after leaving the store, then turned west and walked out of their sight, the affidavit continues. They said the stolen gun was a Radical Firearms FR-16 and was valued at $544.99.

Police canvassed the area and found the suspect, whom they identified as 51-year-old James Richard Ollie, according to the affidavit. After waiving his Miranda rights, Ollie told investigating officers that he had taken the FR-16 to a residence on Centre Avenue and given it to a man he knew as both "Woody" and "Danny."

Officers identified "Danny" as 30-year-old Daniel Sherman Ellington. Police obtained a search warrant for Ellington's residence, but the executed document did not indicate whether any items were seized.

Online court records show that police arrested Ollie that same day and charged him with felony firearm larceny. He has since been released from custody on bond.

SafeSide co-owner Mitchell Tyler said Tuesday that the stolen firearm has not been returned to the business.

"Hopefully, law enforcement was successful in retrieving it, and it's locked up somewhere in evidence right now, but I don't know where it is," Tyler said in an interview.

Tyler wasn't at the Roanoke gun store Sept. 5, but he said he watched security camera footage of the theft.

"The gentleman was in the store for maybe five to 10 minutes. He stood in a couple different spots. He looked around long enough to see where all the staff members were, and he waited until all the staff members were tied up with other customers, Tyler said. "Then he went over and grabbed it from behind the counter. He went past the barricade and got it and then quickly exited."

Tyler said one of the business's shooting range employees saw Ollie leaving the building with the firearm.

"It caught her eye, because almost every firearm that goes out the door has a case or a bag or a box," he said. "She alerted management immediately that something just didn't look right, and they were on the phone with Roanoke PD within about two minutes."

Tyler said a neighborhood resident stopped by the Roanoke SafeSide store Sept. 7 and told the manager on duty that they had heard about the theft and that "they didn't feel right about it."

"They didn't know that we already knew," Tyler said, but it means "people are out there listening and working towards decreasing crime in the communities that they live."

About 10 years ago, Tyler said, a firearm was stolen from a case in a SafeSide store in Bedford. But the business has since developed practices to prevent shoplifting.

"We knew it was going out as it was going out," he said of the Sept. 5 incident. "When we circulated his picture with staff, staff had seen him in the building before. It sounds like he had cased the store and then put a plan into action. He did not display any signs of nervousness or fidgeting. He was very smooth."

The business owner said that while the theft is unfortunate, he's confident the city police department and its regional partners can "get this gun back, if they haven't already."

Emma Coleman

(540) 981-3198

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