Lowell Violent Crime Mapping

01/02/2025

Yesterday, Lowell PD responded to two incidents of gunfire.

In the first incident, multiple people on South St reported hearing gunfire and a vehicle potentially involved leave the scene just before 8:30 AM. An officer on scene located numerous shell casings on South St.

In the second incident, a person located over a dozen shell casings near the Shedd Park tennis courts. No information on when the shots were fired.

There has been 5 confirmed shots fired incidents in the city in 5 days. More shell casings were potentially found today (unconfirmed) in the Back Central neighborhood.

12/31/2024

Since my last post, I have added 13 crimes to lowellvcm.com

These crimes include five assaults with knives (Middlesex, Adams, Central, Smith, and Merrimack St.) and a stabbing on Gorham St. that left a victim with a stab wound to the head.

Additionally, 7 incidents of gunfire have been added. These shootings led to at least one injury (Oliver St.) and one fatality (900 Block of Middlesex St.). Additional shots fired incidents with no reported incidents took place on Lane St, VFW Highway, Robert St, Warwick St. and the 1900 Block of Middlesex St.

More details on these incidents can be found at lowellvcm.com

12/16/2024

I realized my certificate verifying lowellvcm.com expired on Dec. 9th, causing the site to be unreachable. That issue has been fixed and the site should be back online. However, I have not had the time to add the shooting and shots fired incidents from the post earlier today.

12/15/2024

This morning, a person was reportedly shot on Oliver St. There is no info on the severity of the injuries. It is the second shooting incident in 24 hours in the city as Lowell PD responded to additonal gunshots on the VFW Highway yesterday morning and recovered numerous shell casings across the roadway.

(I am pretty swamped this week, so I don't when these incidents will be added to lowellvcm.com, may not be until next weekend)

12/07/2024

This morning, Lowell PD responded to a report of gunshots on Lane St. Shell casings as well as a crashed car with bullet holes were reportedly found nearby. No victims were found at either scene. I'm waiting to update lowellvcm.com as I am waiting to hear if any information about another possible incident last night is released. However, the site should be updated with the Lane St incident by tonight or tomorrow morning.

A map of the recent violent crimes in the city of Lowell, MA. Includes non-domestic crimes that involve a firearm or knife. Data starts from Oct. 2020

12/06/2024

Yesterday, Lowell Police responded to an additional attempted armed robbery near Bishop Markham on Gorham St. as well as an A&B with a weapon on Summer St. Both of these incidents have been confirmed through crime logs, but I do not have any information on the circumstances of each incident or what weapons were used.

Yesterday, just before 11 AM, a gunpoint robbery was reported on Summer St near the Bishop Markham Towers/South Common.

Around 12 hours later, Lowell Police responded to another incident involving a gun in Back Central, this time on Newhall St. In this incident, a male was reportedly armed with a gun after a motor vehicle crash. A male on scene was arrested on numerous assault with a weapon charges. More @ lowellvcm.com

12/06/2024

Yesterday, just before 11 AM, a gunpoint robbery was reported on Summer St near the Bishop Markham Towers/South Common.

Around 12 hours later, Lowell Police responded to another incident involving a gun in Back Central, this time on Newhall St. In this incident, a male was reportedly armed with a gun after a motor vehicle crash. A male on scene was arrested on numerous assault with a weapon charges. More @ lowellvcm.com

12/03/2024

The city's crime reporting system was updated today. With that information, I was able to confirm an assault with a gun that occurred after midnight on Saturday in the area of Gorham St (I do not believe it is related to the shots fired on Gorham St on Sunday). Additionally, the shots fired incident on Martin St./Rosemont St. was reported to be an incident of "Discharging a Firearm Within 500 Ft of a Building" by Lowell PD.

At Least Three Incidents of Gunfire in Three Days

Starting at midnight on Friday, Lowell PD responded to a report of bullets striking an ambulance base in the Acre. Ballistic damage as well as shell casings were located nearby. It was also reported over radio traffic that artist studios on Western Ave may have been damaged by flying bullets.

Then in the early hours of Sunday, a caller reported hearing multiple gunshots in Pawtucketville. Shell casings were located in area of Rosemont St.

Later on Sunday, a shooting between two groups littered the 100 block of Gorham St. with shell casings. While no victims were ever found, bloody clothing was located near the crime scene (from radio traffic)

In this three day span, Lowell PD responded to multiple other reports of gunfire and violence in the city. However, due to the city's crime reporting system not being updated, I have been unable to confirm these incidents. Once that system is updated again, I will update lowellvcm.com with all the confirmed incidents.

12/02/2024

At Least Three Incidents of Gunfire in Three Days

Starting at midnight on Friday, Lowell PD responded to a report of bullets striking an ambulance base in the Acre. Ballistic damage as well as shell casings were located nearby. It was also reported over radio traffic that artist studios on Western Ave may have been damaged by flying bullets.

Then in the early hours of Sunday, a caller reported hearing multiple gunshots in Pawtucketville. Shell casings were located in area of Rosemont St.

Later on Sunday, a shooting between two groups littered the 100 block of Gorham St. with shell casings. While no victims were ever found, bloody clothing was located near the crime scene (from radio traffic)

In this three day span, Lowell PD responded to multiple other reports of gunfire and violence in the city. However, due to the city's crime reporting system not being updated, I have been unable to confirm these incidents. Once that system is updated again, I will update lowellvcm.com with all the confirmed incidents.

11/26/2024

Recent Crimes added to lowellvcm.com

These crimes include:

A reported assault with a knife where a victim suffered a injury from the knife on their hand on Central St.

Two additional knife assaults, one at a plaza on Branch St. and the other at the LGH Saints Campus

An assault/chase with a gun at the Lowell Train Station.

(A few hours earlier, another incident reportedly involving a firearm took place across the street on Summer St. However, due to uncooperative witnesses/victims, it was never confirmed if a firearm was used. However, a report for an aggravated assault was taken due to a person being struck with a bottle of liquor during the altercation.)

Shots fired on Ash St that led to the arrest of a suspect on firearm/discharging a firearm charges.

11/25/2024

Based on court records, the gun recovered in this incident is listed as a machine gun. The suspect previously arrested on gun charges is also now facing charges for discharging a gun.

A map of the recent violent crimes in the city of Lowell, MA. Includes non-domestic crimes that involve a firearm or knife. Data starts from Oct. 2020

11/24/2024

Around 6AM today, Lowell Police responded to a report of shots fired in the area of High St. While responding, officers reportedly stopped a car potentially involved and arrested at least one person on firearm charges. Shell casings/a crime scene was found on Ash St.

(On a side note, Lowell PDs official crime stats (which I use to confirm/verify most of the crimes I post) have not been updated in a few days. Once they are released again, I will post a recap on the previous violent crimes this week, as well as update

A map of the recent violent crimes in the city of Lowell, MA. Includes non-domestic crimes that involve a firearm or knife. Data starts from Oct. 2020

11/15/2024

Last night, Lowell Police responded to another incident where a suspect had brandished a knife and slashed a victim's tires. In this incident, the victim was threatened by the knife wielding suspect while using an ATM on Bridge St. The suspect fled in a motor vehicle, but was located and taken into custody in Downtown shortly after.

11/15/2024

Additional Crimes from Yesterday added to lowellvcm.com

Starting at 8:30 in the morning, Lowell PD responded to a gas station on Chelmsford St. after a male had threatened to stab the clerk while brandishing a knife. Later in the afternoon, a second assault involving a knife was reported on the VFW Highway near University Ave after a road rage incident ended with a male pulling out a knife and slashing the victim's tires. Both incidents were marked as assaults with weapons by Lowell PD

At 7:30 PM, Lowell police responded to a report of gunfire on Merrimack St. leading to officers discovering numerous shell casings near Merrimack and Cabot St.

While the uptick in crimes near the South Common was mentioned in yesterday's post, the North Common has also been no stranger to an increase in crimes posted on lowellvcm.com this year. Using data from the LowellVCM website, crimes have increased by 280% when compared to all of last year and have nearly doubled the number of crimes that took place in the same area in 2022. The area of Merrimack and Cabot St. as well as the North Common Village have been hotspots for violence in the area.

11/14/2024

Stay tuned for a posting either tomorrow or later this week. More gunfire and a reported knife assault today.

11/13/2024

Two Incidents of Gunfire and an Armed Robbery Keeps Lowell PD Busy Yesterday

Just after midnight, officers on Middlesex St. were alerted a person had flashed a gun nearby. A suspect was stopped in the area and taken into custody on robbery and assault charges.
Later in the day, police responded to Stackpole St after a caller reported two males had just fired a gunshot before fleeing the scene. Then, after 10 PM, officers responded to another report of gunfire on Lakeview Ave that left numerous shell casings and damage to a nearby building. Both incidents were confirmed by Lowell PD as discharging of a firearm near a building.

Also of note is the recent incidents that have taken place in the area of the South Common and the southern Downtown region. Including yesterday's robbery, there have been 4 incidents that have taken place in the two weeks. 3 of those incidents involved a firearm and one involved a knife. Two of those incidents took place in the South Common. Another incident (assault/robbery) in the Bishop Markham homes was reported to Lowell PD yesterday, but I have been unable to get any details and that crime has not been added to the website or included in the above numbers.

Additional incidents that took place in the last 10 days can be viewed at https://lowellvcm.com/map

While the area around the South Common has always had its issues, the last year has seen a large spike with unofficial data from lowellvcm.com showing nearly a 70% increase in gun/knife incidents so far this year when compared to all of last year. Yesterday, Lowell City Council passed an ordinance restricting outdoor camping, hoping to mitigate some of the issues in this area.

11/02/2024

Multiple Acts of Violence Reported During Halloween (More @ lowellvcm.com)

On Thursday, October 31, Lowell Police responded to a gunpoint robbery just after noon that had taken place on Aiken Ave. 2 males armed with a firearm had reportedly robbed a female in a vehicle. Later in the night, multiple fights broke out in the Downtown area leaving at one person with a severe stab wound, and others dealing with other injuries and OC spray exposure as Lowell Police used pepper spray in attempt to quell the brawling. Shortly after, another victim with a potential stab wound entered a local hospital, but that is unconfirmed and has not been added to lowellvcm.com.

The Halloween robbery is the second gunpoint robbery to take place in Centralville in a week, with another robbery taking place in the Christian Hill area on October 25 which resulted in the arrest of a male.

Other crimes that have been added to lowellvcm.com are:

An assault with a reported revolver on Summer St.

A stabbing on Chapel St that resulted in the arrest of a female on charges of assault and battery with a knife

An attempted stabbing at a barbershop on Merrimack St

Reported shots fired in the Acre (location unknown) and South Lowell (unverified)

A gun arrest by Gang Unit officers on School St during a traffic stop. A handgun was recovered.

An assault with a gun that took place this morning in South Lowell during a road rage dispute. (Unverified due to recency, but hopefully should have more info soon).

(These crimes took place between 10/24 - 11/2)

10/23/2024

With yesterday's additions, the total number of crimes on lowellvcm.com for 2024 is 197, which is above last year's total of 196 (The previous record). There is still ~10 weeks left in the year, so this number is expected to rise.

However, these numbers are UNOFFICIAL (and at times unconfirmed) and don't paint the full picture. Lowell Violent Crime Mapping does not record most domestic incidents and only records crimes that occur in Lowell that involve fi****ms and knives (in some cases, the shots fired/gun arrests included on lowellvcm may not actually be recognized as a violent crime by official data). This means that while there may be more non-domestic gun/knife crimes, the actual number of total violent crimes in the city may have decreased. Also, there may be cases where I miss some crimes and other times where I may accidentally post false reports (although I try my best to ensure this doesn't happen).

To make up for these discrepancies, I usually like to use official FBI data from https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/ #/pages/home to confirm the trends that are posted on my website. The data from the site can be filtered down to an agency/city level, allowing any user to look at the specfics of crime in Lowell. Last month, the FBI published the entirety of the 2023 data as well as violent crime numbers from Jan 1 2024-Jun 30 2024 for cities with a population above 100k. However, the city of Lowell only reported on crime in the city for 5 out of the 12 months in 2023 and has not reported any crimes for 2024. The city has also not published any of its own annual crime reports (which is common practice for many cities) since 2022.

The lack of data (or manipulation of data by only reporting on certain months) reported by Lowell not only prevents me from confirming the increase of crime as reported by lowellvcm.com, but leaves the public in the dark about what is occurring in the city. As the end of 2024 approaches, I hope our city/police leaders will reevaluate how they disseminate crime data to the public and work towards providing clear, complete annual crime information for this year and years in the future.