Pulse nightclub shooting drives up murder rate in Florida

49 slain at gay Orlando club

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The attack at a gay nightclub in Orlando helped drive up Florida's murder rate in 2016 to its highest level since 2008.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement released last year's crime figures on Wednesday. Statewide there were 1,108 murders, including the 49 who were fatally shot last June at the Pulse nightclub.

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But even without the Pulse shooting, the number of murders would have been up slightly from 2015, when 1,040 people were murdered.

The number of murders caused by firearms was also up -- even without the Pulse shootings. In 2015, firearms were used in 767 murders. That increased to 847 in 2016.

Overall, the number of crimes committed in Florida dropped by 2.8 percent, largely based on a decrease in robberies, burglaries and larcenies.


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