The Associated Press
PHOENIX (AP) -- Phoenix recorded the most homicides ever in one year, according to the FBI.
By Thursday, 247 people had died at the hands of another. The previous record was 245 homicides in 2001.
The numbers include officer-involved shootings and justifiable homicides, neither of which are reported to the FBI for its annual tally of murders nationwide.
“That’s crazy in a city like this to reach that number in a year,” said Detective Tom D’Aguanno, who investigates homicides. “It’s amazing.”
The deaths in Phoenix this year included that of a homeless man who was beaten, stabbed and set on fire; a mother killed outside a convenience store where she went to gas up; and three of the five prostitutes that police say were strangled by a serial killer.
Officials blame an increase in human and narcotics smuggling for the rise in homicides. More slayings are being connected to criminal organizations, like those that smuggle people and drugs, and those groups are becoming more violent, officials say.