Kansas City recorded 180 homicide victims in 2020, the highest number of killings in a single year in its history, as gun violence surged nationwide.
The Kansas City Star reports that the last time the city saw anywhere close to as many homicides was 2017, when it recorded 155 killings, including four fatal police shootings.
In addition to the homicide record, 2020 also marked a dramatic surge in nonfatal shootings. More than 620 people were shot and survived — a statistic that Mayor Quinton Lucas described as “crazy” and “embarrassing.”
