Murders in Washington, D.C., hit a 16-year-high this week with a trio of killings that came with more than a month left in the year.
The city reached 199 homicides Tuesday when a 62-year-old man was fatally shot, up from 176 in the same time frame last year, according to police data. Two other killings, including one that stemmed from a road rage incident, were reported Monday.
In 2020, the city experienced 198 killings.
"We’re obviously very concerned about the increased number of people who lost their lives senselessly," Mayor Muriel Bowser said Tuesday during her COVID-19 news briefing. "We’re literally throwing every resource we have available at it."
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Shooting in Washington, DC, leaves at least 2 injured. The city recorded its 199th killing Tuesday, the largest uptick in murders in 16 years. (WTTG)
Tuesday's homicide figures are the most for the city since 2004 when 248 people were killed.
The rise in violent crime in Washington mirrors a national trend as many cities are experiencing upticks in gun violence. Some have slashed law enforcement budgets as calls for police reform grew out of protests over police brutality and racial injustice last year.
A police spokeswoman told Fox News in a statement that the cause of increasing violence remains unclear. Aside from police patrols, the department has deployed its Community Focused Patrol, a data-drive unit that assists patrols in areas of the city where crime has gone up.
"Additionally, removing illegal firearms in a safe and respectful manner will remain an agency priority," she said.
In July, following a brazen double shooting in the city's popular Logan Circle and a shooting outside Nationals Park, Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee told Fox News that law enforcement officials have warned that the loss of police officers would be problematic for the city.
He also blasted the local criminal justice system for releasing criminal suspects into communities with nothing more than GPS monitors while they await trial.
An officer stands outside a Metropolitan Police Department cruiser. (MPD)
"People have asked police to reform. That’s been posed to me for now for a year-and-a-half," he said. "I’m saying that we have to stretch beyond the police and look at the entire ecosystem to see what other things is everybody doing in the ecosystem to ensure that our communities are safe."
That same month, Bowser directed the police department to use as much overtime as needed to address the spike in crime. The directive came after the shooting outside the baseball stadium and the shooting death of six-year-old Nyjah Courtney, who was killed during a barrage of gunfire that also left five adults wounded.
Overall, crime is up 2% in the nation's capital this year. Robberies, burglaries, and arson are down while violent crime and vehicle thefts have increased, according to police figures.
A Washington D.C., police officer holding the handgun recovered from a suspect’s waistband. (DC Police)
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In October, Bowser announced a fall crime initiative intended to combat gun violence in the city's most dangerous neighborhoods. Months earlier, she requested $11 million from the City Council to hire 170 new police officers.
Lawmakers decided to grant her $5 million to hire half the number of officers. Fox News has reached out to the police department and the DC Police Union.
