Boston Shootings Fall to 24% Below Average, but Fatal Shootings Hold at 18

Boston recorded 102 shooting victims from Jan. 1 through Nov. 1, 2026, five fewer than the same stretch of 2025 and 24% below the five-year average of 135, according to preliminary Boston Police Department figures. The Boston shootings 2026 count also shows 76 shooting incidents, down 16% from 91 a year earlier.

The numbers come from the shootings pages of the department’s weekly crime overview, which compares the year to date with 2025 and with a five-year average that excludes the current year. The department labels the figures preliminary and says the slide may not include shootings from the past 48 hours. For the broader picture, see our October explainer on Boston’s crime rate in 2026.

Boston shootings 2026: what the data shows

The drop is driven by non-fatal shootings. Boston police counted 84 people wounded but not killed through Nov. 1, down from 89 in 2025, a 6% decline, and 26% below the five-year average of 113. Fatal shooting victims held flat at 18, which is 17% below the five-year average of 22.

Fatal shootings made up about 18% of all shooting victims this year, compared with about 17% in 2025, TBR calculations from the police figures show. In other words, the number of people killed by gunfire did not fall while the overall total did.

Fewer incidents, but more with multiple victims

The incident count fell further than the victim count. Police logged 76 separate shooting incidents through Nov. 1, compared with 91 a year earlier, a decline of 15, and about 30% below the five-year average of 108.8.

The gap comes from shootings that hit several people at once. Single-victim shootings fell to 63 from 79, a 20% drop. But the department recorded one shooting with four victims and three with five victims this year, after none of either in the same period of 2025. Those four incidents accounted for 19 victims, roughly 19% of the year’s total, by TBR calculation. On average, each 2026 shooting incident involved about 1.34 victims, up from about 1.18 in 2025, also TBR calculations.

Double-victim shootings fell to seven from eight, and triple-victim shootings to two from four, the data shows.

The latest daily numbers

The department’s daily “Boston 24” tallies, also preliminary, showed no homicides in the 24 hours ending at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, or in the 24 hours ending at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4. The Wednesday report listed seven aggravated assaults, no robberies and 19 larcenies other than from vehicles. Police caution that the daily counts are an initial tally of incident reports, not official crime statistics.

The weekly overview does not say whether it includes shootings by police. On Oct. 30, Boston officers fatally shot a man on Selkirk Road in Brighton who police said charged at them with a knife during a mental health call, GBH News reported; Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office is leading that investigation.

Daily updates on the Boston Police Department and neighborhood incidents are collected on our public safety hub.

Sources

• Boston Police Department: Persons shot incidents, weekly crime overview through Nov. 1, 2026 (PDF)
• Boston Police Department: Boston 24, Nov. 4, 2026
• Boston Police Department: Boston 24, Nov. 3, 2026
• GBH News: Suffolk DA to investigate deadly police-involved shooting in Brighton