patrick.net

Not long after the coronavirus bore down on New York last year, gun violence surged, rising 75 percent or more in some of the state’s largest cities. But even as the virus receded in recent months, shootings continued to rise.

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In New York City, where he spoke, the police recorded more than 1,500 shootings in 2020, nearly almost twice as many as 2019, and the violence so far this year is at its highest level since the early 2000s. Some 886 people have been shot in 765 incidents this year through July 4, according to police statistics. The violence appeared to ease in June, which saw shootings decrease 20 percent from June 2020 — though remaining still well above 2019 levels.

Similar increases in gun violence have occurred in cities like Buffalo and Rochester and villages like Hempstead and Spring Valley, according to state data. The spike in gun play has also driven a rise in homicides across the country, including Portland, Ore., Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.