CINCINNATI — Cincinnati’s deadly gun violence has hit a three year high, 14 days into 2022.
Six people have died so far this year.
Compare that to one person killed in the same time period last year.
Three people died at this point in 2020, and that was the deadliest year in recent history.
The numbers come from Cincinnati Police Department records.
The latest homicide took WCPO 9 News to a place popular with families and locals like Carletta Bell.
“I come here all the time, and it's always peaceful, quiet,” said Bell.
She was outside the public library in College Hill of Lantana Ave.
Police records show an officer noticed someone on the ground there before 2:30 a.m. Friday morning. The report says someone shot the man above the waist before he died.
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“We're going to be aggressive in addressing these things,” said Scotty Johnson.
Johnson is the newest City Council Public Safety & Governance Committee Chairperson. He was a Cincinnati Police officer for 33 years before retiring in 2019.
“We've got new legislators, a new council, that are going to do everything they can,” said Johnson. I just met with the Vice Mayor. I know the Mayor is committed to doing whatever we have to do to make Cincinnati the safe, golden city that it's going to be.”
His second public safety meeting is January 25. He expects the Chief of Police to discuss troubled areas and provide data from the new gun tracking unit. That’s the taskforce of officers and federal agents that trace firearms and follow up on past offenders not allowed to carry them.
“It is real. We do have to watch our surroundings. We do have to be careful where we go and how we conduct ourselves,” said Johnson.
Back at the library, workers say police are planning to scour surveillance video in hopes of finding the latest killer. Officers are also working to notify the family of the man killed before releasing his name to the public.
