ST. LOUIS, MO — Police are investigating a fatal shooting that occurred overnight Thursday on the city's north side. A man was found dead around 10 p.m. in a vehicle that had been parked in a narrow alleyway behind a complex of apartment buildings in the Greater Ville neighborhood, police said. The Post-Dispatch reports that the neighborhood has seen eight murders this year, making it one of the worst hotspots for violent crime in the city.

The man's death brings the total number of murders in St. Louis to 205 this year, a 21-year record. Three-quarters of those deaths were caused by firearms. More than 30,000 Americans are killed by guns every year and twice that number are injured, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 13,000 are murdered. The rest take their own lives or are victims of accidents. Almost half are children or young adults. A teenager was found dead in a snowy Ferguson street shortly before 6 a.m. Christmas day. He had been shot in the chest. A second shooting left another man dead Christmas night less than a mile from the first shooting. A few days before, three women were fatally shot as they tried to flee burglars who had forced their way into the women's home.



A wave of shootings by police — which are not included in the official tally of homicides — have also inspired distrust in law enforcement, making good policing harder critics say. Police shot two teenagers, aged 17 and 14, on Thanksgiving day, killing the 17-year-old, who police say was armed. The 14-year-old, who was unarmed, was injured but survived. Earlier this week, the circuit attorney's office announced that three St. Louis police officers will not be charged for a March shooting that left 31-year-old John Blanchard injured but alive. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner has raised concerns over how police shootings are investigated in the city, previously accusing the unit tasked with investigating them of withholding evidence from prosecutors.

And, Missouri Rep. Bruce Franks Jr. has called for a new investigation into the 2013 shooting death of Cary Ball. Police shot the 25-year-old man 21 times after he fled a traffic stop in April of that year. Officers said he pointed a stolen gun at them, but no video exists of the shooting, and some witnesses contradict the official story.

On Thursday, Mayor Lyda Krewson announced the appointment of John Hayden as St. Louis' new police commissioner, ending a five-month search. Hayden, who is black, has said he is committed to building better relationships with citizens through community policing tactics and that he will hold his officers accountable for their actions. He believes community outreach, redistribution of resources, in-depth analysis of crime trends, and better technology and training for officers will help reduce the epidemic of violent crime that that hit the city in recent years.

Hayden is a 30-year veteran of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The mayor praised him as a "good cop" with a proven track record. Critics and supporters alike agree that he has a big job ahead of him.