Indianapolis marks October as deadliest month of the year
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The month of October is one of the deadliest months of the year. To put the numbers in perspective, there have been 17 murders in September, 17 in August, and 15 in July.
As of Thursday afternoon, Indianapolis has has 18 murders in the month of October. Police are at a loss on why October is so violent, but every year as the cold weather moves into the capitol, city violence is not far behind.
On Saturday Oct. 8, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers found a man sitting in his truck that had been shot to death. In the first full week of October, 12 people were murdered in Indianapolis. In the second week, another six have lost their lives. According to IMPD, 30 people were murdered in Indianapolis in Oct. 2022. That’s the most murders of any month that year.
In 2021, another 30 people were murdered in the capitol city. That same year, July was the deadliest month with 33 murders. The recent wave of violence has been gun related. News 8 asked Mayor Hogsett if the crime reduction grants and programs put in place by his administration are working.
“We don’t expect crime to be prevented overnight, but they are working because even though October has been a very difficult month, we still remain 17 to 18 percent down in homicides and non-fatal shootings” Hogsett said.
Homicide as defined by the city includes murder, self-defense, reckless homicide, and police shootings. When we look at total homicide numbers over the last three years, October is the most violent month. In 2021, there were 34 homicides, and in 2020 there were another 30.
Over a three-year period, Hogsett and the city county council will invest $45M in special crime reduction grants. This is in addition to the millions spent on new crime reduction technology and 200 additional cops.
“But the point is the numbers are moving in the right direction that tells me the investments we are making are helping us reduce gun violence in Indianapolis,” Hogsett said.
The numbers are still staggering. Year to date, 173 people have been murdered in Indianapolis and more than 550 people have been shot.