PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia has now had 400 homicides in 2021, the earliest on record the city has reached that many victims in a given year. As the gun violence crisis continues in Philadelphia, the city reached the milestone on a day meant to remember the victims of homicide.
The victims have been fathers, mothers, sons and daughters. 34 of the victims are children or teens — and about 50 are women.
Most of the killings were shootings. Police say the ones they’ve solved so far have been motivated mostly by fights or arguments. They point to drugs as the second reason.
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The latest came Saturday night near Hunting Park, when a 37-year-old man was shot in the head. In a grim coincidence, Saturday was the National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims.
There have also been nearly 1,400 non-fatal shootings so far this year.
Philadelphia police said they have taken nearly 4,500 crime guns off the street so far this year, the most ever recorded at this point in the year, and they have arrested 2,000 people for firearms violations.
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In a statement, Mayor Jim Kenney said he was "heartbroken and outraged" and that the administration "takes this crisis very seriously and we’re acting with urgency to reduce violence and save lives."
He added, "This coming week we plan to announce more grassroots organizations that will receive city funding to reduce violence in our neighborhoods. We also continue to refine and expand our Group Violence Intervention initiative and Community Crisis Intervention Program among other key anti-violence efforts underway."
Kenney also noted that police are taking a "record number of illegal firearms off our streets, but they need the public's help to solve crimes."
District Attorney Larry Krasner issued a statement as well, saying, "We should all be outraged that senseless, preventable violence continues to claim and break lives here in Philadelphia and in communities across the country that are also experiencing alarming increases in gun violence."
Krasner suggested solutions such as providing safe learning environments and after-school options for children, taking advantage of new forensic technologies to solve shootings without available video or eyewitnesses, and increasing training for homicide and non-fatal shooting investigations.
