Murders in NYC, St. Louis surge this year, top 2019 numbers, data shows
St. Louis already surpassed total 2019 homicides, New York City shows 27% increase, according to new reports
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New data shows that murder rates in New York City and St. Louis have surged this year, surpassing 2019 figures.
In the Missouri urban center, the Thursday killing of a 24-year-old woman marked the city's 195th homicide this year.
In 2019, there were 194 homicides in total, according to The Associated Press.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}St. Louis has seen a spike in shootings -- both fatal and nonfatal -- since the beginning of the summer.
ASSAULTS ON NYC CORRECTION OFFICERS SURGE OVER PAST YEAR
The city is among a group of cities where federal law enforcement agents were sent this summer to help fight gun violence under the Operation LeGend program.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New York City police officers detain and question a man in the Bronx. On Monday, the NYPD unveiled a draft of proposed disciplinary measures that could result in termination for the wrongful use of physical force. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
Operation LeGend was named after 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot and killed while sleeping in his father's Kansas City, Mo., apartment on June 29.
Thus far, the federal task force has made more than 1,000 arrests in high-crime cities across the country, according to U.S. Attorney General William Barr.
Farther East, new data released by New York's City Hall on Thursday night revealed a more than 50% surge in gang violence as well as a concerning spike in murders over the last year.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In 2020, more than 350 New Yorkers lost their lives to murder.
New York City Police Department (NYPD) data included in Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio's Management Report shows that figure marks a 27% increase from 2019.
While the city recorded a slight 1% increase in major felonies overall, the uptick notably included the jump in homicides and 2,176 more burglaries than last year -- or a 20% increase.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Other major felonies were down, including grand larceny, classroom felonies and forcible rape. Narcotics arrests decreased by 36.7% “in line with the NYPD’s prioritization of felony level narcotics arrests of higher level organized distributors."
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While the report doesn't provide data on shootings, the Big Apple has seen gun violence skyrocket, with at least 1,000 recorded cases of gunplay since Jan. 1.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}According to an August report in The New York Post, by the same time last year there had been just 537 shootings.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.