Data released Monday by the FBI show more than 44,000 violent crimes were reported last year in North Carolina, an 11.8 percent increase from 2019. While the state's violent crime rate has increased, it is significantly lower than what it was in the early 1990s, when more than 680 incidents were reported per 100,000 residents. Overall, these types of deaths make up about 2 percent of all violent crimes in the state, but, statewide, they jumped 30 percent from 2019 – the second highest year-over-year increase in the last 40 years.