Philadelphia homicides up 55% so far in 2021 following violent Monday that killed 7

PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia homicides in 2021 are already outpacing a violent 2020 that saw a total of 499 by the time the year was done.

Seven people lost their lives in shootings Monday, including a 15-year-old boy who was shot and killed in South Philadelphia.

As of 11:59 p.m. Monday, the Philadelphia Police Department had reported 62 homicides in Philadelphia in the year 2021. That's up 55% over the same date in 2021, according to the department's website.

While 2020 became one of Philadelphia's deadliest years in decades, the city didn't reach 60 murders until Feb. 28 of last year. 

In addition to the teenage boy, police say a woman was also shot to death in Olney, while two men were found dead inside a home in Kensington.

A 54-year-old female supervisor at the United Peers Recovery Center in East Falls was found shot to death in her office on Monday. Police announced Tuesday that a suspect was in custody in the incident and charges are pending.

Police also say a man and woman, both 24, were found dead after they were shot in the bedroom of a Crescentville home. A five-year-old child was found lying in bed next to one of the victims and was unharmed.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw, who will mark one year on the job on Wednesday, addressed the continued violence in an interview on Good Day Philadelphia last week.

Outlaw stated that in order to avoid another abnormally violent year, the city will have to do more on the 'prevention side.'

"We've got to pay attention to themes and patterns," she said. "What 2020 showed us is that there are a lot of commonalities as it related to social media, social media beef. We saw an increase in our domestic violence-related incidents of violent crime or homicides. And then we also saw that a lot of the shootings and homicides were driven by narcotics."

Moving forward, Outlaw says the department is doing what it can to bolster its social media efforts with detectives and analysts. The department will also be partnering with community groups and the Office of Violence Prevention to get ahead of domestic violence incidents and reprioritize those incidents internally.

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