Murder Spikes To Near 300 Deaths In NYC, Data Show

NEW YORK CITY — Nearly 300 people have been murdered in New York City this year and police say gang violence and mass shooting incidents are to blame.

Police reported Thursday 299 people died in homicides in 11 months of 2019 as opposed to 275 people killed in all of 2018.

The 2019 count includes 27 reclassified murders, or deaths ruled homicides this year but that took place before 2019, said Deputy Chief Lori Pollock.

Murders jumped 25 percent in a month-to-month comparison with 16 people killed in November 2018 and 20 killed in November 2019, police said.

Seven murders occurred in Brooklyn, five in The Bronx, four in Queens and four in Manhattan, police said.

Gangs were behind more than 25 percent of 2019 murders and domestic violence accounted for 20 percent of those deaths, said police.

"We continue to see a high percentage committed by gangs," said Shea, adding mass killings made a disturbing addition to the statistic. "We've seen a couple of instances with a high number of people killed."

Shea referenced the shootout in a Brooklyn gambling den that claimed four lives. In Manhattan, four homeless people were murdered in October.

"How do we catch these individuals so they're not shooting up a block?" said Shea. "[It's] very troubling."