A coalition of Pittsburgh organizations shared their progress in preventing gun violence.”It takes a village to stop this thing called violence,” said the Rev. Eileen Smith, the executive director of South Pittsburgh Coalition for Peace. On Thursday, that village came together under one roof to exchange ideas and review their accomplishments at a monthly meeting hosted by SPCP. “Because of the work that these folks do, we’re making a difference, and you know, you don’t realize that until you start looking at the crime stats and think about, ‘Wow, it’s a little bit more quiet this summer,” said Laurie MacDonald, the Center for Victims president and CEO. “Last summer was probably the quietest summer we’ve ever experienced.”A researcher with the Allegheny County Department of Human Services presented several stats showing gun violence is down in the county. According to DHS, the number of homicide and non-fatal shooting victims has decreased each year since 2023. There were 327 victims in 2020, 377 in 2021, 431 in 2022, 353 in 2023, 300 in 2024, and 288 in 2025. Smith gave credit to DHS for contributing to the effort by providing the Community Violence Reduction Initiative grant.”It’s because of the grant money that we’ve been getting to compensate these men and women who risk their lives to go out on the street. This is data-driven. This is a data-driven grant,” Smith told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reporter Jordan Cioppa. The city of Pittsburgh saw similar trends when it came to recent data on gun violence. According to the Pittsburgh Violent Crimes Dashboard, there were 35 homicides in 2025 and 82 non-fatal shootings. Last year’s homicide total was the lowest in Pittsburgh since 1989, when 33 people were killed. “By looking at data, that’s great, but I also want to know what their efforts are so that other opportunities, when people are trying to do the violence prevention, we want to make sure that they are at least trying to replicate some of those efforts,” said Sheldon Williams. “Building relationships, intentional work for intervention, also redirecting individuals towards other pathways.”Williams, the new public safety director of Pittsburgh, shared his vision for the role. “I am looking to continue the good work that has already been done and look at it as ways that we can link with them to continue their work,” Williams said. “So, I just applaud them for their efforts.”According to DHS, 81% of county shooting incidents (where information was available) in 2025 were categorized as “Community Violence.” Just over half of the shooting incidents that year took place on the street, while 42% “had a high or medium risk of retaliation.”Half of the shooting incidents involved an in-person altercation or argument. One shooting incident was a mass shooting, according to DHS. The agency said 70% of victims and suspected actors were acquainted.
PITTSBURGH —
A coalition of Pittsburgh organizations shared their progress in preventing gun violence.
“It takes a village to stop this thing called violence,” said the Rev. Eileen Smith, the executive director of South Pittsburgh Coalition for Peace.
On Thursday, that village came together under one roof to exchange ideas and review their accomplishments at a monthly meeting hosted by SPCP.
“Because of the work that these folks do, we’re making a difference, and you know, you don’t realize that until you start looking at the crime stats and think about, ‘Wow, it’s a little bit more quiet this summer,” said Laurie MacDonald, the Center for Victims president and CEO. “Last summer was probably the quietest summer we’ve ever experienced.”
A researcher with the Allegheny County Department of Human Services presented several stats showing gun violence is down in the county.
According to DHS, the number of homicide and non-fatal shooting victims has decreased each year since 2023.
There were 327 victims in 2020, 377 in 2021, 431 in 2022, 353 in 2023, 300 in 2024, and 288 in 2025.
Smith gave credit to DHS for contributing to the effort by providing the Community Violence Reduction Initiative grant.
“It’s because of the grant money that we’ve been getting to compensate these men and women who risk their lives to go out on the street. This is data-driven. This is a data-driven grant,” Smith told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reporter Jordan Cioppa.
The city of Pittsburgh saw similar trends when it came to recent data on gun violence. According to the Pittsburgh Violent Crimes Dashboard, there were 35 homicides in 2025 and 82 non-fatal shootings.
Last year’s homicide total was the lowest in Pittsburgh since 1989, when 33 people were killed.
“By looking at data, that’s great, but I also want to know what their efforts are so that other opportunities, when people are trying to do the violence prevention, we want to make sure that they are at least trying to replicate some of those efforts,” said Sheldon Williams. “Building relationships, intentional work for intervention, also redirecting individuals towards other pathways.”
Williams, the new public safety director of Pittsburgh, shared his vision for the role.
“I am looking to continue the good work that has already been done and look at it as ways that we can link with them to continue their work,” Williams said. “So, I just applaud them for their efforts.”
According to DHS, 81% of county shooting incidents (where information was available) in 2025 were categorized as “Community Violence.”
Just over half of the shooting incidents that year took place on the street, while 42% “had a high or medium risk of retaliation.”
Half of the shooting incidents involved an in-person altercation or argument. One shooting incident was a mass shooting, according to DHS. The agency said 70% of victims and suspected actors were acquainted.