129 Cleveland Homicides in 2018, One Fewer than 2017

After tallying the three shooting deaths at a New Year’s Eve party on Cleveland’s west side — (11:45 p.m., Dec. 31) — the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner has ruled that Cleveland officially saw 129 homicides in 2018, one fewer than in 2017.

As in years’ past, most of the deaths were the result of gun violence: 114 of this year’s 129 victims died from gunshot wounds, nearly 90 percent.

While the total represents a very slight decrease from 2017, meaning that homicides have gone down for two straight years for the first time in more than a decade, the total is still well above 100. The city has now eclipsed 100 homicides for five straight years, the first time that’s happened since the 90s.

Cleveland.com reported that the triple-homicide on New Year’s Eve, in which an uninivited group of men showed up at a rented AirBnB on Cleveland’s west side, was 2018’s deadliest incident. There were six double homicides.

Here are Cleveland’s homicide totals since 2007.

2007: 134
2008: 102
2009: 120
2010: 72
2011: 75
2012: 98
2013: 88
2014: 102
2015: 121
2016: 133
2017: 130
2018: 129 

This article appears in Jan 2-8, 2019.