WINDSOR, N.C. — Richard Callander of Bertie County was shot and killed Saturday evening outside his home on Ghent Street in Windsor. Callander’s death marks the sixth gun fatality in the county since the beginning of the year.

Callander’s children are now pleading with the community to put an end to gun violence.

“With my dad being gone, it’s like losing a whole half of me, especially because me and my dad were some jokers, we loved to play with each other,” said Ri-Ceiya Callander. “Now, I just have to look at pictures and videos and look back at the good times we had because I know we can’t have it again.

“There’s no reason why guns should be used in this type of world, look at what we’re going through now. The guns have to be put down because there’s no exact real purpose why people’s lives have to be taken by guns.”

Windsor Police Chief Justin Jackson said the investigation is ongoing.

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“We’re doing all we can in the town of Windsor. We are working very diligently on this crime and if anyone has any information, to please call the Windsor Police Department,” Jackson said.

Callander’s death came on the same day another man was shot and killed by a woman. In early April, Bertie County Sheriff Tyrone Ruffin addressed the community following the fourth homicide in the county.

So far, only one of those cases has resulted in an arrest. A man from Georgia was arrested on April 6 and charged with the murder of Lin Thi Rawls on Feb. 20. It was the first homicide reported in Bertie County in 2023.

Alicia Browning is a Bertie County resident. She said the recent spike in crime has her scared.

“Being a resident of Bertie County, it really makes me afraid not just for me but for my children, I have three children,” Browning said. “A lot of times, like one of the incidents we actually heard it, it was not too far from where I live, and it actually kind of shook us up a bit so with all this going on it actually makes me afraid to leave the house sometimes.”

WNCT reached out to Bertie County Sheriff Tyrone Ruffin for comment on the county’s spike in violent crimes, but he declined an interview.