Nearly 60% of Rochester residents lived near at least one fatal shooting in the past three years, according to new data analysis by the New York Times.
Gun violence rose to historic levels across the country and here in Rochester in 2021. The devastation that follows a shooting reverberates through communities and affects more than just the individuals struck by bullets.
The recent rise in homicides across the country included neighborhoods already suffering from violence as well as new places, exposing more people to that devastation.
According to data from the New York Times, one in seven Americans would pass the site of a recent gun killing while walking through their neighborhood.
Gun violence in Rochester, NY
In Rochester, those odds are even greater, with more than half of the city exposed to fatal shootings in their neighborhoods. That figure is up from 39% in the three years leading up to the pandemic — and the analysis does not include the hundreds of non-fatal shootings that occur in Rochester neighborhoods each year.
The New York Times used data from police, news media and the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive to map every gun killing in the United States since 2020. They drew a quarter-mile circle around each incident to determine how many people lived near the incident. murders.
More: The homicide rate in Rochester dropped last year. Can the efforts bring us back to pre-pandemic levels?
The New York Times database maps gun violence in the US
You can use the tool on the NYT website to find your address and see how gun violence has changed in your neighborhood.
A comprehensive database shows a heat map of fatal shootings, how they have changed in different neighborhoods and the racial makeup of areas affected by gun violence.
Gun violence in Rochester NY
Gun violence in Rochester is improving – albeit slowly. Gun homicides and nonfatal shootings each fell by nearly a third last year. But further progress remains elusive so far this year, with gun violence figures from the first five months of 2024 matching those from 2023, according to the RPD Open Data Portal.
So far this year, 71 people have been shot in Rochester; 13 have died.
Last year, around this time, 72 people were victims of a shooting; 10 were killed.
— Kayla Canne reports on community justice and safety efforts for the Democrat and Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter @kaylacanne and @bykaylacanne on Instagram. Contact kcanne@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Gun Violence Map of Rochester NY Neighborhoods
