WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita set a record for homicides last year with 59, eclipsing the city’s 1993 record of 57 homicides.
Wichita joined a number of cities nationwide in setting records for homicides and violent crime during 2020.
Police Chief Gordon Ramsay has said that stressed related to the coronavirus pandemic may have been factors in the increase in homicides last year. Those include record high unemployment, closed schools and businesses, increasing domestic violence and the halting of court proceedings.
Throughout the year, Wichita recorded a homicide roughly once every 6 days on average. Police reported that investigations into 37 of the 52 criminal homicides during the year were closed, which is about a 71% clearance rate. Seven of the homicides were labeled either justified, accidental or police shootings.
Thirty-two was the average age of the victims, and 11 of the 59 people killed were female. The youngest victim was a 2-month-old boy allegedly killed by his father. and the oldest victim was a 68-year-old man who was allegedly killed by his brother.