Gun violence soared across N.J. during worst of pandemic. This year looks just as bad. Updated 9:49 AM; Amid a global pandemic, New Jersey and the rest of the nation are wrestling with another killer: Gun violence, which leaped alarmingly in 2020 across the United States. Last year, 218 people in New Jersey died in shootings, an increase of 45% from 2019, according to State Police tracking. Another 1,052 people were wounded, up 25%. That came during a year of tumult, with a deadly virus, a superheated presidential contest and racial justice protests following the May 25 murder of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. Nationally, more than 19,000 lost their lives in shootings, according to the Gun Violence Archive, in what is likely the largest death toll in at least two decades.