Yolanda Jones and Kayleigh Skinner

The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal

MEMPHIS — Three people were shot and killed Friday in separate incidents, pushing Memphis to 214 homicides — a record for the city in one year.

The city hasn't seen this many killings in more than 20 years.

The record tally puts in Memphis in line with other major cities with surging homicide rates, such as Chicago. Louisville and Tulsa also set records for homicides this month.

Police point to gangs, domestic violence and access to guns as common threads in a majority of the homicides.

The number of homicides had swung and down over the last two decades. Last year, the city recorded 161 homicides. In 2010, the number dipped to a record low 112 homicides.

"Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to intervene when some make the decision to commit murder. I have previously asked the community to take a stand and demand that these killings stop," said Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings in a statement Friday after Memphis reached 213 homicides, tying the record set in 1993.

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Mayor Jim Strickland addressed the violent toll and what the city is doing to address the issue, including recruiting and retaining police officers, advocating for stiffer penalties for violent crimes and providing more opportunities for youths.

"Our homicide rate has taken this tragic, shameful spike,” the mayor said in his weekly email address. “It is the crime that the police are least able to control. It is on all of us, in our homes, our neighborhoods, and our churches, to do better."

The latest deadly spate began at 3 a.m. Friday when 59-year-old Jarvis Hinds was shot and killed in South Memphis.

An hour later, police were called to an apartment near the University of Memphis, where a 23-year-old woman was shot to death.

The 214th homicide occurred shortly after 10 a.m. A man told police that he came over to check on his coworker and found him unresponsive. Officers arrived and found the victim with a gunshot wound in a possible home invasion.

There have been no arrests in the three Friday homicides.

"I have a message to those that choose to be on the other side of the law and terrorize the citizens of Memphis," Rallings said. "We will not rest. We will not stop. We will find you and we will bring you to justice."

Lt. Col. Don Crowe, head of the Memphis Police Department’s investigative services, said it is hard to pinpoint the reason for the homicide spike.

Both Crowe and Rallings said it will take police and the community working together to reduce the homicide rate.

"We want to do our part and we want to ask the community to do their part. Walk away from an argument. Don't escalate it," Crowe said.

Homicide detectives have been working overtime and have made arrests in 74% of the cases, he said.

Other cities are also grappling with an increase in homicides.

The homicide rate for the nation’s 30 largest cities is projected to increase 13% for 2016, according to a September analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.

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The report examined many possible causes for the increase such as long term socieconomic conditions like unemployment and poverty, gang violence, and volume of police officers, but could not come to a definitive conclusion because of a lack of data.

Balloon releases and candlelight vigils have become frequent scenes in Memphis as family and friends mourn the deaths of their loved ones.

Bryan Burton stood on the sidewalk in his Frayser neighborhood this week and watched as police officers carried out evidence in the fatal shooting of his neighbor. He shook his head in disbelief.

"I just moved here in October," Burton said. "I thought I had moved to a safer neighborhood than my old one. These killings have got to stop. We've had too many this year."