Colorado Springs homicides down compared to this time last year

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Colorado Springs Police Department is investigating the 5th homicide in Colorado Springs in 2021. At this time last year, CSPD investigated 17 homicides.

While homicides are down this year, the Colorado Springs Police Department says 2020 marked the most murderous year in the city so far.

Some experts say the rise was likely due to a combination of factors including pandemic-related hardships, growing distrust in law enforcement, and even the increase in gun sales leading to more gun violence.

Colorado Springs' most recent homicide happened on March 22nd, when officers responded to reports of shots fired in the 2500 block of East Buena Ventura Street at about 9:20 p.m.

At the scene, the reporting parties, a man and a woman, said the woman's estranged boyfriend contacted her, violating a restraining order issued due to a history of Domestic Violence.

On Tuesday, CSPD received a call at 6:29 a.m. from a neighbor in the same hundred block of East Buena Ventura Street reporting a man was lying face down in the snow and appeared to be unresponsive.

Officers later identified that man as the estranged boyfriend from the previous call.

While homicide investigations are down dramatically compared to last year, Colorado Springs set a new record in 2020 for the number of lives lost in car crashes, with 51.