The wave of deadly violence occurred during a tumultuous year in US history. The COVID-19 pandemic caused schools to close and left millions of Americans out of work. Minneapolis police officer's murder of George Floyd sparked confidence in U.S. law enforcement and sparked protests across the country.
Firearm sales skyrocketed, leading to the proliferation of tens of millions of new weapons. Here's a look at states where gun sales are increasing. Some experts speculate that each of these factors likely played a role in increasing the homicide rate. While it may take years before the precise causal factors are identified, the effects are being felt in communities across the country.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cites homicide as a contributing factor to the historic 1.5-year decline in life expectancy in the United States last year, surpassing only COVID-19 and accidental deaths, such as drug overdoses, in importance. That represents an increase of almost 45% from the 87 homicides of Columbus during the same period last year, which is a percentage increase slightly higher than that experienced by Indianapolis. Even so, with just over 14 homicides per 100,000 people, Colon's rate is about four points lower. Louisville, which has a population of 617,638, experienced the largest percentage increase in homicides so far this year.
That puts Louisville's per capita rate at 21 homicides per 100,000 people. That represents an increase of 344 over the same period last year, representing an increase of almost 40%. IndyStar only received comparable non-fatal shooting data for Louisville. Louisville had 474 non-fatal shootings until October.
Chicago reported 2,601 shootings in October. Total number of shootings increased by 53% year over year. City Council has allocated tens of millions of dollars to community violence reduction groups in the form of grants, and Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett has pointed to a reallocation of federal COVID funding for public safety efforts over a three-year period as positive steps. Compared to homicide rates in seven other cities as of May 19, Indianapolis was firmly in the middle of the herd.
While Indianapolis has shown a steady downward trend in reported serious crimes, the number of homicides and non-fatal shootings has increased for more than two years. The city's homicide rate is just under 23 homicides per 100,000 people, 5 points higher than in Indianapolis. INDIANAPOLIS With 10.6 homicides per 100,000 residents, Indianapolis's intentional murder rate is higher than Chicago and several other large U. regional.
As a child in the mid-1990s, Antonio Patton traveled by bicycle from around the Children's Museum on 30th Street to the east end of Indianapolis. Indianapolis showed the second lowest percentage increase in homicide so far this year and the second lowest homicide rate to date. Several recent social media posts have compared Indianapolis's homicide rate to Chicago's, but the Windy City has a higher homicide rate and a larger increase in year-to-date numbers. Although homicide is the least common form of criminal violence, accounting for less than 2% of all violent crimes, places with high homicide rates also tend to have high overall rates of violent crime, and Indianapolis is no exception.
One night in July, five people were killed and seven others injured in shootings on the northeast, east, south and west sides of Indianapolis. .
