New interactive map tracks shootings in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A new online tool has been launched to track the number of shootings in Philadelphia.

An interactive map created by the city controller's office shows the locations of shootings, whether they were fatal, and information about the victims including race, gender and age.

The tool can also be used to show individual location points show a heat map of violent regions in city.

Controller Rebecca Rhynhart said Philadelphia is in the middle of a gun violence crisis, and this tool was being released to help better understand the trends.

"These victims are more than statistics. As a city, we're failing them, their families, and our communities," said Rhynhart. "My office is committed to transparency and data analysis and our goal is to shine a light on issues that need immediate action."

According to Rhynart, the tools pulls data from the following sources:

-Total homicides - Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) Crime Stats;

-Shooting victims data - Open Data Philly (maintained by the PPD Statistics Unit); and

-Information on court cases - United Judicial System of Pennsylvania.