Birmingham Hits 31-Year Homicide High With Latest Deadly Shooting
Carol Robinson, AL.com, December 22, 2022
A deadly shooting Thursday night in Birmingham’s west side marked a grim milestone for the city.
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The shooting marks the city’s 142nd homicide, making 2022 the deadliest year in Birmingham in decades.
The highest number of homicides recorded in recent memory was 141 in 1991. The city’s all-time annual record for homicides was set in 1933 recorded when Birmingham had 148 slayings.
In 2021, Birmingham’s population dipped to 197,575, according to Census records. The city had a population of 259,678 in 1930 and in 1990 the city’s population was 265,968.
The Thursday night shooting death is the latest slaying in a violent Christmas week for the city:
An 18-year-old was shot to death Sunday morning and a 33-year-old father was found dead in a burning car that night.
A 21-year-old was killed in a downtown shooting Monday night.
A 12-year-old girl was killed in her sleep Wednesday morning.
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Birmingham’s new modern record for homicides comes after years of increased killings in the city.
Birmingham ended 2021 with 132 homicides.
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The 2021 total was up by 10 from 2020 which saw 122 homicides. That 2020 tally was the highest number of killings in the city in 25 years — 121 homicides in 1995.
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