Boston

Troubling Trend: Fatal Shootings in Boston on the Rise

An increase in the number of the shootings in Boston so far this year has law enforcement officials concerned.

From Jan. 1 through Sunday, there have been 13 fatal shooting victims in Boston, up from five for the same period last year. That's an increase of more than 150 percent. It's also substantially higher than the five year average of eight fatal shootings.

Overall, there have been 45 shooting victims in the city so far this year, up 15 percent from 2017.

Shooting category20172018#Change%Change
Fatal shootings5138160
Non-fatal shootings3432-2-6
Total shooting victims3945615

“We're way ahead of last year, and obviously that's troubling,” Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said Saturday following the latest fatal shooting on Frazer Street in Hyde Park.

He said the victims in several recent shootings, including the one in Hyde Park, appeared to have been targeted.

"It's troubling to us because we've had an uptick from where we were last year," Evans said. "Overall, crime is down in the city, we're doing well, but we're up on the homicides and we're slightly up on the shootings right now."

The number of firearms arrests for the first three months of this year is roughly equal to last year's number. Last year at this time, there had been 123 firearms arrests in Boston, and there have been 124 so far this year.

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