PITTSBURGH MAYOR ED GAINEY
Homicides are drastically down in Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh, the New Pittsburgh Courier has learned.
From Jan. 1, 2024 to July 31, 2024, there were 64 reported homicides in Allegheny County. In the same period in 2025, there were 37 homicides, nearly 30 fewer.
As for the City of Pittsburgh, from Jan. 1, 2024 to July 31, 2024, there were 26 homicides. In the same period in 2025, there were 18. Nearly 10 fewer.
Many of the homicides in the county involve African Americans as victims. Of the 37 victims between Jan. 1 and July 31, 2025, 28 were Black lives, or 76 percent.
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey brought many anti-violence organizations together outside of City Council chambers in early July to show just how many people are committed to stopping violence before it stops in the city and county. The news conference was also to make sure City Council wouldn’t be making any cuts to the Stop The Violence Fund, which allocates funding to those organizations, among other things, to help tackle violence.
“While this progress is encouraging, we must never lose sight of the fact that even one life lost to violence is one too many,” Mayor Gainey said in a statement exclusively to the Courier, Aug. 12. “This reduction is the result of dedicated, coordinated efforts across our city. I want to sincerely thank the men and women of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, our community outreach teams, violence prevention partners, and—most importantly—the residents who continue to show up, speak out, and work together to build safer neighborhoods.
“Public safety is a shared responsibility, and this progress shows what’s possible when we invest in both accountability and compassion. We still have more work to do, but today, we take a moment to recognize the lives that were not lost—and the collective commitment it took to make that possible.
“We remain focused, we remain united, and we remain deeply committed to a safer, stronger Pittsburgh for everyone.”
Pittsburgh experienced 42 homicides in 2024, a far cry from the 71 homicides the city experienced in 2022, just as Mayor Gainey was settling into the mayor’s chair. Homicides are decreasing, as the mayor professed would happen during his tenure, given his ultra-focus on the issue.
As for non-fatal shootings, there were 134 non-fatal shootings in the city in 2022. So far in 2025, from Jan. 1 to Aug. 12, there were 58, according to Pittsburgh Public Safety. The 58 non-fatal shootings is an increase from the 48 non-fatal shootings in the same period in 2024.
Ashley Cabiness is the program manager for South Pittsburgh ACTES (Achieving Change Through Transitional Employment Services). The organization has outreach workers that are constantly in Pittsburgh’s South Side Hilltop communities, trying to prevent violence before it starts.
“Statistic-wise, 70 percent of homicides are all impulsive,” Cabiness told the Courier, Aug. 12. “In that split-second time frame, somebody’s making a snap decision. The core basis of the ACTES program is slowing that brain matter down. We slow the mindset down, we slow the behavior down, and we deal with the triggers and the emotions behind that impulsive behavior. Because if you can stop and think about really why you’re angry and upset and get the tools that teach you how to pivot from those things, then it stops you from making that rash decision.”
Reverend Glenn Grayson Sr. is not only the pastor at Wesley Center AME Zion Church, in the Hill District, but he’s also General Manager of the REACH program (run by The Center That Cares), which has more than 40 staffers working collectively to prevent violence in the City of Pittsburgh. You can see REACH members at places like the 4th of July celebration, Downtown, at football games, outside schools, and even on school days in Downtown Pittsburgh, where many teens converge.
“We are out every day, and we’re out at ‘hot spots,'” Rev. Grayson told the Courier, Aug. 12. Reverend Grayson didn’t call REACH members “security,” but their presence is seen at events and teen hangout spots, “just being available, encouraging kids to go straight to school, not to loiter around the stores Downtown,” Rev. Grayson said.
Reverend Grayson said REACH not only works with the schools Downtown to make sure their presence is seen by students before and after school, but REACH will now be working with University Prep/Pittsburgh Milliones in the Hill District when school returns in a few weeks.
Also, some of the REACH team members have been able to use their personal talents, such as boxing or family services, and turned that passion into helping the young people of Pittsburgh whom they serve.
“We’re full circle in terms of supportive services and intervention and prevention,” Rev. Grayson said.
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