Wilmington shootings up 10 percent in 2016

(John Jankowski/for NewsWorks)

(John Jankowski/for NewsWorks)

Despite the increase in shootings, Wilmington Police say there is some progress in curbing crime.

As of August 31, police said they have seized 231 guns. That’s a 40 percent increase from last year, according to the Wilmington Police Department’s Andrea Janvier.

However, the number of shootings tell a different story. According to Janvier, there have been a total of 90 shooting incidents with 100 victims as of the end of August. That’s a 10 percent increase from numbers last year.

The city’s most recent shooting incident is not included in that total. On Thursday, shortly before 1 a.m., three women were shot- including a pregnant woman- inside of a home. All three women suffered non-life threatening wounds and received medical attention.

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“We continue to monitor our information gathered for our weekly TAPS meetings and deploy our personnel as well as overtime initiatives in areas that indicate an increase in crime,” Janvier said.

Janvier also said the Wilmington Police Department continues to work with the Delaware Attorney General’s Office to identify, arrest and prosecute those connected to gang activity and who are believed to be responsible for violent crimes in our city.

“We engage the community to seek cooperation in assisting us in solving crimes and to continue enhancing our relationship building efforts,” Janvier said.

To date, there have been 20 homicides in Wilmington. Janvier said 17 were gun related.

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