I counted 63 cases of someone being shot with a gun in Berks County in 2020, based on reports on the Reading Eagle and WFMZ websites. Details about most of these horrible crimes were sparse, and many didn’t seem to be followed by the media.
Local news organizations likely missed some shootings. For example, three stories late in the year reported that people were arrested for shootings earlier in the year about which I could not find stories at the time of the shooting.
Ten shootings in 2020 were fatal.
All but five were in the city.
Police shot one victim in self-defense. Roxanne Moore, 29, was hit by multiple bullets in the 800 block of Franklin Street about 7 a.m. on Sept. 13.
Often, a cluster of shootings happened over a few days.
From April 5 to April 7, four people were shot in Reading.
From June 8 to June 25, seven people were shot in Reading, two fatally.
From October 3 to Oct. 8, six people were shot in the city.
Shootings involved bystanders, multiple victims, domestic violence, robbery, murder-suicide, home invasion, gunfights.
Victims were shot in the street, in their homes, in yards, on trails, in or outside bars, in cars, in a hotel.
Ages were noted for 31 victims, with an average of 27 years.
Victims were reported shot in the abdomen, ankle, arm, back, chest, face, hand, head, leg, torso, and multiple places.
“Gun violence remains a major burden on the U.S. healthcare system, with annual cost exceeding $170 billion,” according to an article in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons in June.
“The costs for hospitalizations, measured as median costs adjusted for gross domestic product, increased more than 27 percent over the 12-year study period, from $15,100 to $19,200”
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32791284/
Here is a link to the spreadsheet.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17YXKjCGfPAXq9pJf_Oda6Yr3WEm716zjaJ0mKXVWWws/edit?usp=sharing
