Statistics provided by Columbus police reveal the city is on pace to surpass last year's totals for reported homicides and felonious assaults, but will likely remain below record levels reported in 2021.
The Columbus Division of Police released data Tuesday on both crimes, including demographic factors regarding age, race and gender, as well as the locations of the crimes throughout the city. There have been 77 homicides and more than 600 felonious assaults in Columbus so far in 2023.
Many of the crimes were due to gun violence, resulting in 68 deaths and 247 injuries by gunshot wounds.
Several of the homicides remain unsolved. A total of 24 cases remain active, but police are making progress and have solved 53 cases from this year and 20 from past years that went unsolved.
In the last five years, Columbus police reported the following number of homicides by this point in the year:
- This date 2022: 62
- This date 2021: 96
- This date 2020: 55
- This date 2019: 52
- This date 2018: 60
The age of both victims and suspects is skewing younger in 2023.
Of this year's 77 homicide victims so far, 48 of those victims were under the age of 30.
Of the 94 suspects arrested in 2023 in homicide cases from both this year and previous years, 48 of the suspects were also under the age of 30.
