New Orleans is virtually assured of retaining its title this year as the most murderous city in the United States, police said Wednesday after the city passed last year's record of 389 homicides.
The death a 21-year-old man gunned down outside a corner store Tuesday morning and a coroner's ruling that a death Sunday was a homicide raised the number of murder victims to 391, with a month of counting yet to go, Sgt. Marvin Defillo told Reuters."Our busy season is just coming up and it's not going to slow down at all," Orleans Parish coroner Dr. Frank Minyard said.
Last year's homicide total made New Orleans the murder capital of the country for its population size.
The city's closest competitor for the dubious title in 1994 is Washington, D.C., which has a population about 100,000 greater than the Louisiana city, yet has recorded just 376 murders.