INDIANAPOLIS — After a violent weekend in Indianapolis, people say multiple incidents have them concerned, but the bigger picture tells a different story.
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According to IMPD, overall crime in the city is down this year.
With around a dozen shootings happening in different parts of the city over the weekend, some people said they are feeling uneasy.
“People get hot, and there's a lot more crime because people are a lot busier in the streets,” Bernice Berry, an Indianapolis resident, said.
From a shooting outside Antioch Baptist Church during a funeral on Saturday morning to a Sunday evening shooting near Riverside Park, neighbors are begging others to put the guns down.
“Remember that if everybody starts just trying to reach out, talking to each other without using a gun, we can make this a better country,” said resident Raymond Glenn.
Despite the numbers, officials point out that non-fatal shooting and criminal homicide rates have dropped significantly compared to last year's numbers.
"Criminal homicides, we're down almost 25%. That just shows we are turning in the right direction. We're not out of the woods, but we're doing the right thing year over year. In the past four or five years, you've seen that number for both those coming down,” IMPD Officer Tommy Thompson said.
Thompson told WRTV on Monday that most of the weekend shootings were isolated incidents and do not reflect a larger issue.
“These incidents, usually, the involved individuals are known to one another. When you have isolated incidents, this is not just some random person who was shot throughout the city,” said Thompson.
Police reports obtained by WRTV show four of the shootings are believed to be self-inflicted. Still, officers say weekends like this show there is still work to be done. Thompson emphasizes how important the community's role is during these incidents.
“If the community is not doing their part to come forward, we can't do it alone. We need their help," said Thompson. "When they know there may be a certain house or a certain set of individuals committing criminal acts within a community, we need to know about it so we can take the proper action."
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