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– When Andre Avery drives his commercial truck through Detroit, he keeps his gun close. Avery, 57, grew up in Motor City and is aware that murders and shootings are booming, even though they happened in Detroit and elsewhere before the pandemic. His weapon is legal and he wears it for protection. “I stay extremely alert,” said Avery, who now lives in nearby Belleville. “I’m not in the crowd. If anything looks a little suspicious, I’m out of there.” In Detroit, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and even smaller Grand Rapids, Michigan and Milwaukee, 2020 has been deadly, not only because of the pandemic, but also as gun violence is on the rise. Authorities and some experts say no one is clear. reason for the peak, the AP reports. Instead, they point to social and economic unrest caused by the coronavirus, public sentiment towards the police following George Floyd’s death at the hands of the Minneapolis police, and a historic shortage of jobs and resources in poorer communities as contributing factors. It’s happening in cities big and small, run by the Democrats and Republicans.
Two years ago, there were 261 murders in Detroit – the least in decades – and about 750 non-fatal shootings in the city of more than 672,000. But with just a few days left in 2020, more than 300 murders have already been committed, while non-fatal shootings are up more than 50%, to more than 1,124 through mid-December. “I think the pandemic – COVID – has had a significant emotional impact on people across the country,” said Detroit Police Chief James Craig. “Individuals don’t process how they manage disputes. Whether it’s domestic servants, arguments, drug disputes, there’s a speed to use an illegally transported firearm.” In Detroit, about 7,000 weapons had been seized by mid-December, with more than 5,500 arrests for illegal weapons. There were 2,797 similar arrests last year. ‘I have never seen such a peak. But if it happens in other cities – some smaller ones – what do we all have in common? ‘ Craig said. “That’s when you start thinking about COVID.”
(Read more stories about gun violence.)