By Hank Russell
Despite Governor Kathy Hochul touting a recent report that gun violence fell statewide to record lows, Nassau and Suffolk Counties saw upticks in shootings last month.
According to data from the State’s Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative — in which 28 police departments report the latest number of gun-related incidents to the state — 81 shooting incidents involving injury, down 65%, compared to 229 during the same period in 2021.
The number of individuals shot declined 66%, from 262 to 88, while the number of individuals killed by gun violence dropped 74 percent, from 28 to 11, based on GIVE data.
“Public safety is my top priority, and these latest numbers show that our investments in law enforcement, community-based prevention programs and proven anti-gun violence strategies are continuing to save lives,” Hochul said. “Communities across New York are seeing fewer shootings, fewer victims and fewer families devastated by gun violence.”
But on Long Island, the stats tell a different story. In Nassau County, there have been a total of five shooting incidents so far this year, whereas there were no shootings at the same time in 2025. However, that is the same number of shootings as the five-year average yield to date (2021-2025).
Of these shootings, according to GIVE, two of the shootings involved injury, two people were shot and one was killed.
In Suffolk, there have been 17 shootings from January to March 2026, the same amount as during the first three months of last year. However, there were seven shooting incidents involving injury — up from six last year — and the number of people shot went up from six to nine.
The only bright spots in the data were that the number of shootings was lower than the five-year average of 21 and only one person was killed, down from five last year.