Philadelphia has set a new record for the number of homicides in a single year following another round of killings on Nov. 27, making 2021 the deadliest year in the city’s history with one more full month remaining before the end of the year.
With the latest shootings, the number of homicide victims stands at 503. The last time the number crossed 500 was in 1990, during the crack cocaine epidemic. The Philadelphia Police Department has been keeping homicide records since at least 1960, and the 2021 rate has now surpassed all previous years. There were 499 murders in 2020.
