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2020 Atlanta homicides by the numbers

Bullet holes left in a car parked at the scene on Friday, Oct. 16, 2020 where 13-year-old Brayan Zavala was shot and killed in their front yard. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)
Bullet holes left in a car parked at the scene on Friday, Oct. 16, 2020 where 13-year-old Brayan Zavala was shot and killed in their front yard. (John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com)
Jan 15, 2021

The average age of those killed was about 33.

∗ Nearly 80%, or 121, were Black men. Eleven were white men. Twenty-two women of both races were killed, though most were Black. One Asian man and two Hispanic men were among the dead.

∗ Most were killed by rifles and handguns. Smaller numbers were suffocated, killed by blunt force trauma or stabbed. One was starved. Another was struck by a vehicle.

∗ Most happened in the late evening and early morning hours.

* Three of these cases stem from incidents that took place prior to last year, but each was officially ruled a homicide in 2020. In two cases, the victims survived until 2020, while new developments in the investigation of the third case led to an updated homicide charge.

∗ The largest share of homicides, 73, happened in southwest Atlanta. Seventy-seven occurred in a street or parking lot.

∗ As of this week, 83 of the 157 cases remained open. In one case, the suspect died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

About the Author

Jeremy Redmon has reported for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 2005. He often writes about politics, the military, immigration and refugees.

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