With three months to go in the year, the number of murders in Dallas already has reached the total for all of 2015.
A shooting on Lancaster Avenue Friday afternoon brought the city’s murder total to 136, the same number at last year’s total. There were 19 murders in September, compared to nine in September 2015.
The ambush-style murders on Lancaster happened just before 2 p.m. Friday, about an hour before dismissal at nearby James Bowie Elementary School.
WFAA’s story on the shooting includes an interview with a neighbor who says she feels unsafe and doesn’t leave her house after dark. The story also points out that while the murder rate is higher than last year, the clearance rate is lower. The Dallas Police Department through August had solved 41 percent of homicides, compared with a 66 percent clearance rate in 2009.
