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Gun violence in Jamestown has decreased markedly through the first quarter of 2025 – bringing the city in line with trends of declining gun violence across the state.
Statistics released last week by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services show a 15 percent decline in shooting victims and a 9 percent drop in shooting incidents with injury through April 2025, compared to the same four-month period last year -- the lowest totals ever recorded. In Buffalo, shooting incidents with injury fell six percent from January to April 2025 compared to the same period of time in 2024, while the number of shooting victims dropped 16 percent. To date, Erie County and the City of Buffalo have led the state in progress to combat gun violence.
The city had two shooting incidents, four shooting victims and two individuals killed by firearm from January through April 2024, with none reported in the same period of 2025. The first shooting incident in the city in 2025 came on May 8, with police continuing to investigate the incident in the area of North Hopkins Avenue and East Second Street.
Officers are attempting to identify and locate an individual due to their proximity to the location surrounding the event. This person is being considered as a witness and may have information regarding the incident.
Other Tier 2 agencies included in the state's Gun Involved Violence Elimination program have had similar results so far this year. The 12 other cities have seen a decrease in shootings (10 in 2024 to six in 2025), shooting victims (13 in 2024 to 7 in 2025) and individuals killed by firearm (three in 2024 and one in 2025). The only cities to see increases are Binghamton, which has seen three more shootings (5) in the first four months of 2025 than it did in the same time in 2024. Shooting victims have also increased from 2 to 6 while one person was killed by a firearm in Binghamton in the first quarter of both 2024 and 2025. Kingston has seen an increase in shooting incidents and victims, going from zero in 2024 to one in 2025.
Jamestown, a Tier 2 GIVE city, experienced the largest increase in shootings going from four victims in 2023 to 10 in 2024. Gun deaths increased from one in 2023 to four in 2024. Both are the largest increases among the Tier 2 group which also includes the town of Amherst, Auburn, Binghamton, Cheektowaga, Elmira, the town of Greece, Ithaca, Jamestown, Kingston, Lackawanna, Middletown, Spring Valley, and Watertown. Only Binghamton, which according to the 2023 census has an estimated population of 46,727, had more shooting victims - 11 - than Jamestown which has an estimated population of 27,965 also according to the 2023 census.
"To provide a clear comparison, by this time in 2024, Jamestown had already experienced two fatal shootings -- on January 24 and March 18 -- as well as two additional gun discharges," the city said in its release. "As of today in 2025, no such incidents have been reported. The early surge in gun violence in 2024 was abnormal, whereas the current trend in 2025 is more in line with historical patterns."