Tracking gun violence in Philadelphia: January 13, 2021

New resource: You can now find this 48-month chart of Philadelphia shooting victims, based on police data and updated each month, under the PHL tab on our home page. Last month, 181 people were shot in the city.

Latest Philadelphia data

• Police reported 37 people were shot in Philadelphia during the seven-day period ending Sunday; up from 32 shooting victims reported during the previous week. [Philadelphia Police via Google Drive]

Violent weekend

• Police data show 24 people shot in Philadelphia between Friday afternoon and just after midnight Sunday, including a homicide where police say they recovered about a dozen AK-47 rounds. [Open Data Philly/@PPD18Dist]

Total homicides

• Police have recorded 13 homicides during the first 11 days of 2021, the worst start to a new year since 2007. [PhillyPolice.com]

Taking action

• Councilmember Jamie Gauthier held a virtual meeting last week to promote her resolution calling on Philadelphia Mayor Kenney “to declare gun violence a citywide emergency and develop an urgent, unrelenting response.” There’s a companion petition online. [TicketLeap/MoveOn]

Providing support

• The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office announced $1.2 million in funding to continue the Crisis Assistance, Response, and Engagement for Survivors (CARES) program, which supports and cares for co-victims of homicide. [Medium]

Holistic approach

• A $5 million gift is helping the Philadelphia Youth Basketball move toward breaking ground on a new facility and a plan they hope will help prevent gun violence. [The Philadelphia Inquirer]

After the insurrection

• Peace-builders gathered for a call after last week’s attack on the U.S. Capitol and assembled messaging tips for reducing conflict, some of which might apply to community gun violence prevention as well. [Election SOS]

• Guns are playing a critical role in the conflict but last week could have been much worse. Now: Gun sales rising in wake of violence at the US Capitol. [The Trace/cbs8.com]

Grim record

• During 2020, St. Louis suffered a murder rate of 87.2 per 100k, the highest murder rate ever recorded for a city of more than 250,000 people. [@Crimealytics]

Mass shootings

• The Gun Violence Archive gathered news reports from 19 mass shootings during the first 11 days of 2021, including an incident that left four dead, including she shooter, and four more wounded Saturday in and around Chicago. [Gun Violence Archive/The Chicago Tribune]

Solution of the week

• A Louisiana domestic violence prevention program works to remove firearms from the equation and it seems to be working so far. [Tennessean]

Print Release: “AK-47 Lotus” & “AR-15 Lily”

• Artist Shepard Fairey says proceeds from two new prints will benefit a leading advocacy group for “doing good work preventing gun violence.” [Street Art News]

Finding help in Philadelphia

• The Philly Gun Violence Resource List was compiled by WHYY’s Billy Penn and has been released for public use by other media organizations or anyone else. [Google Docs]

• Safe gun storage prevents unintentional shootings and people in Philadelphia are invited to get a free gun lock. [Temple Safety Net]

Report for us!

• We are now seeking applicants to join the Credible Messenger Reporting Project and tell the story of gun violence and prevention in Philadelphia from the community perspective.

Community reporters will be paired with professional journalists to learn from each other, craft stories and get the news out where it can make a difference.

We hope to see some of the resulting reports shared by local news organizations, while other might be more effective on social media platforms and we hope to find professional journalists learning more about engaging new audiences. The possibilities are endless.

The Center will provide equal funding to both partners and cover related expenses, including stipends for story subjects from the community in some cases.

Visit our home page for more info and link to apply: PCGVR.org