INDIANAPOLIS — A surge of violence has pushed Indianapolis past 200 homicides for the third straight year.
One of the most recent ones happened on Monday around 12:30 a.m. when Dana Jones Jr. was found shot outside an apartment complex on Corinthian Court. His family tells 13News he was a great man who loved many.
"Loosing a loved one, loosing a friend is really hard," Tony Lopez, Community Violence Reduction Deputy Director said.
Lopez said when violence like this happens, it impacts so many people.
"We are loosing them that are shot and killed or just a homicide period, but also loosing the individual who committed that homicide, that's just hurting our community and hurting our chances of having a strong community with those still here," he said.
According to IMPD, they have investigated more than 200 criminal and non-criminal homicides every year since 2021. The department said these crimes have gone down 32% over the last three years.
Lopez told 13News there's still more to be done to continue that decline.
"It's not going to change overnight but the more hands in the pot, the more individuals putting in effort towards the community, towards the city, the better we will see in our community," he said.
He also said it's time for city groups to come together and be more present in all neighborhoods affected by violence. IMPD also urges community members to come forward to help solve these crimes.
"The justice that's brought to the victims that we've had in the past that's because of community members coming forward, that's because the community cares.
If you have any information regarding any homicides from this year, you can call Crime Stoppers at (317) 306-8713.
