gun violence

An Ohio City Shows the Devastating Impact of 2020's Rise in Gun Violence

Over a single four-month stretch, six children under the age of 16 were killed in the industrial city in northern Ohio

Students nationwide march to demand stricter gun laws
Karen Schiely/Akron Beacon Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Homicides rose sharply across the country, in cities big and small, in 2020, NBC News reports.

Kansas City, Missouri, broke its previous record-high year for homicides in October. The number of killings in Fort Wayne, Indiana, more than doubled. Los Angeles reached its own milestone in November: more than 300 homicides for the first time in over a decade.

In Akron, the bloodshed has taken a particularly painful toll.

Violent crime isn’t new for this industrial city of nearly 200,000 in northern Ohio, but far more children lost their lives to gun violence in 2020 than in years past, police officials said.

Over a single four-month stretch, a total of six children under the age of 16 were killed. All but one died from gunfire.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com

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