Homicides in Columbus dropped about 17% from 2023 to 2024, but remain higher than homicide rates in the 2010s.
In 2024, the Columbus Division of Police investigated 123 homicides, department records show – down from 149 in 2023, the third-deadliest year in Columbus history. That total is the city’s lowest since 2019, when Columbus recorded 105 homicides.
Columbus police solved about 76% of 2024 homicides by the end of the year, according to a report from the division.
In an interview with the Dispatch, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said the community has “stepped up,” and police have received record numbers of tips
“I think that clearly demonstrates the police are doing an outstanding job, as well as the community,” Ginther said of the drop in homicides. “I mean, this is the lowest amount of homicides we’ve had since the pandemic.”
Ginther pointed to city efforts including the creation of the city’s Office of Violence Prevention in 2023 and its Violence Reduction Program, which identifies people at risk of committing or becoming a victim of violent crime and, with the help of their peers, connects them with resources in exchange for living crime-free.
He also lauded the efforts of Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children, a nonprofit group of grieving moms who “used their horrific pain and grief and poured it into this community.”
Ginther said the 2025 Columbus budget includes salaries for 180 more police officers.
Columbus experienced a 17% drop in homicides in 2024 over the previous year, and one of the lowest years of killing since the COVID-19 pandemic. Those murder cases include the Dec. 14. homicide in the 1300 block of South Ohio Avenue as seen from the intersection of East Mithoff Street and South Ohio Avenue.
“I think we can do more, and we can become a safer city than we have been, even this year with this dramatic increase in violence,” Ginther said. “I want us to be the safest big city in America.”
Other cities across America have also noted drops in homicides, and violent crime in America has fallen steadily in the past few years since a spike that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ginther acknowledged the decline in other cities in an interview with the Dispatch, but reiterated that he believes the work of Columbus police “has a great deal to do with our success.”
Homicide totals for Columbus over the past decade
What do we know about the 123 homicides reported in 2023?
Most of the homicides – 103, or 84% – involved guns. Another 9% were the result of blunt force trauma, 4% were from “cutting instruments” like knives, and 3% involved “other weapons.”
Motives for the killings varied. About 32% stemmed from an argument or dispute, and 18% were related to domestic violence. About 10% were drug-related, and about 7% each were linked to gang violence or robberies.
Children and adolescents made up 39, or 32%, of homicide victims. The youngest was a fetus. Brooke Devinney, 19, was pregnant when police say she was killed in an assault from her estranged boyfriend.
Adults under 30 made up another 47% of homicide victims. Only about 4% were people above 60.
Police shootings not included
Columbus police do not count officer-involved shootings in their homicide totals.
In legal terms, a homicide is any death at the hands of another – regardless of whether the act that lead to that death was legally justified. Self-defense killings and fatal police shootings are typically ruled homicides by coroners.
In 2024, Columbus police officers fired at 10 people, killing at least nine. Those deaths would bring the total homicides in 2025 to at least 132.
bagallion@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus homicides fell to lowest number in years in 2024