PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia has topped 100 homicides so far in 2022, outpacing the number of killings this time last year, which ended as the deadliest in the city's recorded history.
The 100th victim was a 28-year-old man who was shot multiple times shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday on the 100 block of North 53rd Street in West Philadelphia. The man was rushed by police to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 12:32 a.m. Friday.
As of Friday evening, the city had not yet named the victim. Fox 29 reported that his family had identified him as Bryheem Barr.
For comparison, New York City had 488 homicides for all of last year. As of last weekend, the city reported 67 killings so far in 2022.
Chicago this week also reached 100 homicides for the year, The Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Philly's homicide crisis in 2021 featured more guns, more retaliatory shootings, and a decline in arrests and convictions.
In the past two years, gun violence and homicide numbers have soared in many cities across the nation.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw posted a statement to Twitter on Friday morning acknowledging the city's somber milestone.
"We are devastated that 100 people have been murdered this year. PPD will continue to utilize every resource we have to stem this tide of violence, and will not rest until we bring to justice those who seek to cause harm ... to our city and its people; it is our #1 priority," she wrote.
