Birmingham could break a tragic 91-year-old record after several mass shootings

While it's impossible to predict what awaits Birmingham in the final three months of 2024, Saturday's mass shooting that left four people dead in Five Points South brings the city closer to breaking the annual record for murders set in 1933.

To date, in 2024, there have been 122 murders in Birmingham.

In 1933, the city set a murder record with 148 violent deaths.

If Birmingham's numbers remain the same in 2024 – a year that saw three quadruple homicides in seven months – the city could easily have 27 or more murders by January 1, 2025.

This would break the 91-year-old record.

The increase in the murder rate this year also comes at a time of declining population numbers in Birmingham.

With a population of just under 197,000 people in 2024, Birmingham has a murder rate of 6.2 per 10,000 people.

In 1933, when Birmingham had a population of just under 269,000, the city had 5.7 murders per 10,000 people.

The city ended 2023 with 135 murders, a 6.25% decrease from 2022, which saw 144 murders.

The number of murders in Birmingham in 2022 was the deadliest year in the city's recent history – in 1991 there were 141.

Birmingham ended 2021 with 132 murders, 2020 with 122 murders, 2019 with 106 murders, and 2018 with 107 murders.