Durham police identify victim of first fatal shooting in 2021

The Durham Police Department identified the victim of the first fatal shooting of 2021 on Friday.

Officers found Harthorn Wilkerson, 37, lying in the street near the intersection of Crowell Street and Wintergreen Place off of Alston Avenue around 2 a.m. Thursday. He died at the scene.

Wilkerson’s death comes after a year that saw the most people shot in Durham since at least 2016, when the Police Department began compiling the data.

Last year, 318 people were shot compared to 189 in 2019. That is almost a 70% increase. Thirty-three people were fatally shot last year, compared to 32 in 2019.

Shooting victims ranged from babies not even a year old to people over the age of 65. There were 266 shooting victims between the ages of 16 and 44.

Forty-seven of the shooting victims were under the age of 18.

The spike in shootings in Durham last year reflects a national trend.

Chicago saw homicides, most of them fatal shootings, rise by 50% in 2020 compared to 2019, as total deaths topped 750, NPR reported. Los Angeles saw a 30% increase in homicides, while New York City saw a 40% increase.

Other cities in North Carolina also saw increases in the number of homicides. Greensboro had 60 homicides in 2020 compared to 46 in 2019, police data shows. That is an increase of about 36%.

Charlotte saw 122 homicides last year — the most in the city since 1993, The Charlotte Agenda reported.

Raleigh, however, saw a decrease in the number of homicides. There were 27 last year compared to 29 in 2019.

Raleigh police are asking anyone with information in Thursday’s shooting to call investigators at 919-560-4440, ext. 29284 or CrimeStoppers at 919-683-1200. CrimeStoppers offers cash rewards for tips that lead to felony arrests. Callers don’t have to identify themselves.