A deadly shooting on Thursday night in the west side of Birmingham marked a grim milestone for the city.
Police were called at 9.04pm to a house in the 2200 block of Beulah Avenue after receiving a 911 call indicating that an adult male was involved in a verbal altercation with family members at the home. A few minutes later, a second call was made to 911 indicating that a man had been shot.
sergeant. Officers from Monica Law West Precinct arrived to find the victim suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Shortly after 11 p.m., investigators were still at home as weeping family members gathered nearby.
Law said a suspect was arrested at the scene and taken to the city jail for a 48-hour investigation.
Detectives will present their evidence to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office for evaluation.
The shooting marks the city’s 142nd homicide, making 2022 Birmingham’s deadliest year in decades.
The highest number of homicides recorded in recent memory was 141 in 1991. The city’s annual homicide record was set in 1933 recorded when Birmingham had 148 murders.
In 2021 Birmingham’s population fell 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.
Thursday night’s shooting death is the latest murder in a violent Christmas week for the city:
One 18 year old was shot to death Sunday morning and a A 33-year-old father was found dead in a burning car tonight.
A A 21-year-old was killed in a downtown shooting Monday evening.
A A 12-year-old girl was killed in her sleep Wednesday morning.
A A 43-year-old woman was found shot in a car Thursday morning.
See also: “Beyond the violence: what can be done to tackle Birmingham’s rising homicide rate?”
Birmingham’s new modern homicide record comes after years of rising murders in the city.
Birmingham ended 2021 with 132 homicides.
The 2021 tally was passed on December 2, 2022, when a 20-year-old man was killed in a shooting on Birmingham’s busy Finley Boulevard.
The 2021 total was up 10 from 2020, which had 122 homicides. This 2020 tally was the highest number of murders in the city in 25 years – 121 homicides in 1995.
The lowest number on record was 56 in 1966. The last time homicides hit 130 was in 1994.
Countywide in 2021, there were 213. So far in 2022, there have been 190 homicides in Jefferson County.
Here is an overview of the figures since 1991:
- 1992 – 140
- 1993 – 123
- 1994-135
- 1995 – 121
- 1996 – 113
- 1997-108
- 1998 – 85
- 1999 – 81
- 2000 – 89
- 2001 – 80
- 2002 – 71
- 2003 – 87
- 2004 – 64
- 2005 – 105
- 2006- 109
- 2007 – 93
- 2008 – 88
- 2009 – 71
- 2010 – 62
- 2011 – 57
- 2012 – 72
- 2013 – 66
- 2014 – 59
- 2015- 92
- 2016 – 104
- 2017 – 111
- 2018 – 107
- 2019 – 106
- 2020 – 122
- 2021 – 132
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