After Reappraisal Of 2015 Homicide Rate, 2017 Now City's Second-Deadliest Year On Record

Baltimore police have officially recorded more homicides in 2017 than in 2015, not because of a new shooting, but because of the reclassification of 2015 incidents.

Baltimore police say a national network found a discrepancy between what was being reported and what was posted on the city's Open Baltimore website. Jeremy Silbert, a public information officer, researched the matter and found that four 2015 shootings were ruled justified by prosecutors.

Those shootings were Jan. 11 of that year in the 4600 block of Edmonson Avenue, May 7 in the 800 block of West Lexington Street, Oct. 27 in the 4000 block of Pinkney Road and Dec. 8 in the 2900 block of Rosalie Avenue.

Two shootings were ruled justified by prosecutors in 2015, while two were ruled justified in 2016.

As of Friday, Baltimore had 343 homicides in 2017, the deadliest year since 1993, when 353 were killed in homicides. However, Baltimore had more than 100,000 more residents at the time.

This article has been edited to clarify that the total police had on record was always up-to-date, that the error lay in media accounts, and that prosecutors, not police, determine whether a shooting was justified.