While it may seem as though shootings in Chapel Hill this year have been more frequent, Chapel Hill Police Public Information Lieutenant Josh Mecimore says that these numbers are no worse than last year.

“I don’t know that there have been any great changes in how we are patrolling,” says Lt. Mecimore, “but I would suspect that they are probably along those same lines: three or four in a half-year period.

However, Lt. Mecimore says that the severity of the shootings has been greater. Aside from the homicide that took place on Christopher Road on May 30, Lt. Mecimore recalls the other three shootings that have taken place this year.

“There was one on West Rosemary Street in the 300 block, one on East Franklin Street in the 100 block, which was this past week, and then a robbery on Cotton Street, where a gun was fired,” says Lt. Mecimore. “I think only in one of the other ones this year was someone was actually hit, but in the other two, a gun was discharged either during an argument, or in the one case, during a robbery.”

So far this calendar year, there have been four shootings. At this timeast year, there were also four.