Atlanta’s homicide rate has slowed drastically since earlier in the year. The Atlanta Police Department’s homicide unit has investigated 132 cases in 2022, the same as this time in 2021.
In August, Atlanta reached the 100 mark for homicide cases this year, a little more than a week ahead of last year’s pace. In April, police were investigating 56 homicides, up from 38 on the same day in 2021.
Authorities investigated 160 homicides in 2021, up from 157 in 2020. The agency previously reported it worked 158 cases last year and updated the total after a review of department data. The 2019 total was 99 homicide cases.
A recent gun buyback event led to 302 weapons being taken off the streets, the Atlanta Police Department said. The majority of Atlanta’s homicides are due to shootings, and much of the city’s deadly violence stems from disputes that escalate into gunfire.
At a press conference before the buyback event, Interim Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said the department can’t control whose hands weapons end up in. But when those with conflicts chose guns, the combination is often deadly.
“We have certainly seen, since July, an increase of domestic violence firearm incidents in the city, including homicides,” Schierbaum said.
Homicide No. 132 for this year appeared to be domestic in nature. Over the weekend, a 70-year-old man was arrested after a woman was stabbed to death inside a Northside Drive home.
Officers responded to the home in the 2000 block of North Avenue, not far from Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway, for a wellness check around 8:15 p.m. Saturday, police said. There, they learned that Curtis Lilly was barricaded inside with 65-year-old Cassandra Williams. When the SWAT team eventually forced entry into the house and took Lilly into custody, Williams was found dead.
Fewer homicide cases appear random, including the death of a man shot on a Buckhead driveway earlier this month.
Christopher Eberhart, 57, a construction contractor, was shot on Peachtree Battle Avenue on Oct. 13. Investigators believe he arrived early to beat traffic since he was driving in from Gainesville. He had backed his truck into the driveway when someone confronted and shot him before fleeing the scene in Eberhart’s vehicle, according to police.
The suspect charged in his shooting death, 18-year-old Travis Landrey, was later apprehended in Alabama, in Eberhart’s pickup truck. Landrey is charged with felony murder, murder, motor vehicle hijacking and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, police said.
“Any time we have such a senseless act in our city, it is of the highest priority to this police department that we work as diligently, as quick, and as hard as we possibly can to track down each and every lead in order to bring justice to our grieving families,” APD Major Peter Malecki said during a press conference announcing the arrest.
Earlier this month, Mayor Andre Dickens announced the second week of solution-based events focused on working together to bring peace to the city. Dickens’ office is hosting the city’s second “Peace Week” as part of “Just Peace Month” in October. The mayor’s office previously held a “Peace Week” in February with the same goals of supporting peace-building, justice and public safety.
Anyone with information on homicide cases can call Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-TIPS (8477), visit crimestoppersatlanta.org or text CSA and the tip to CRIMES (274637). Tipsters can remain anonymous and are eligible for a reward of up to $2,000.
ATLANTA HOMICIDES
2022: 132 as of Oct. 24
2021: 160
2020: 157
2019: 99
2018: 88
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