Baltimore County sees decline in homicides, shootings in first half of 2024

Homicides and non-fatal shootings in Baltimore County have continued to fall in the first six months of 2024, a downward trend in violence also visible in the city.

Between January and July 1 of this year, the county recorded 11 homicides and 25 non-fatal shootings, putting it on pace for lower numbers than it saw in 2023.

Baltimore County’s homicide and shooting numbers have decreased consistently since 2021, a particularly deadly year that saw the highest number of homicides — 55 — in the county in decades.

In the first six months of 2024, the county has seen five fewer homicides than it had by this point last year. Homicides in Baltimore County went down 14% last year from 2022 , as murder rates fell nationwide, with 2023 ending with 29 homicides and 36 non-fatal shootings.

In 2022, there had been 15 homicides by July 1, with a total of 34 that year.

“The safety and well-being of our residents remains our top priority and I thank [Baltimore County Police] Chief Robert McCullough and the brave men and women of the Baltimore County Police Department for their relentless efforts to ensure Baltimore County continues to be a safe place to live, work and raise a family,” Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. said in a statement. “We will continue do whatever is necessary to constantly innovate and modernize our crime fighting strategies to keep our neighborhoods safe and secure for years to come.”

McCullough said the reduction in homicides and non-fatal shootings “is a testament to the relationships the Department has fostered to ensure every member of our community feels safe and secure.”

Across the city line, data reviewed by The Baltimore Sun showed that the first six months of 2024 likely saw the lowest levels of gun violence in Baltimore City during that period in a decade. So far this year the city has experienced decreases in the number of young people shot and is on pace for fewer than 200 homicides in 2024.

Killings are rare in Baltimore County, which had a lower murder rate per 100,000 people than the national average in 2022. Last year San Francisco, California, which has about 35,000 fewer people than Baltimore County, saw 54 homicides. Indianapolis, with about 35,000 more people than Baltimore County, recorded more than 200.