Markeshia Ricks Photo
Asst. Chief Racheal Cain.
The number of shootings in town fell again in 2018, continuing a multi-year trend.
Fifty people were shot but not killed during the year, according to Assistant Police Chief Racheal Cain.
That compares to 61 non-fatal shootings reported in 2017.
The number has been steadily falling since a high-water mark in 2011, when the city suffered 34 homicides and over 100 shootings. It’s impossible to identify any one cause for the decline. Among the factors officials have cited: Arrests of repeat shooters (like these guys and especially this guy) thanks to increased cooperation among state, local, and federal law enforcement; a general nationwide decline in violence.
The city ended the year with 10 homicides. The state’s attorney’s office is investigating two of them, which are believed to have been justifiable self-defense shootings. New Haven’s department is investigating the other eight. So far it has made arrests in six of them, Cain said Tuesday.
The 10th homicide victim was 44-year-old Samuel Hooks. He was gunned down on Dorman Street shortly before 7 p.m. on Dec. 29.
The Register’s Clare Dignan compiled info on all 10 victims in this article.