Killings Up in D.C. After Hitting 21-Year Low

The District had recorded 181 killings as of late Monday, up from 169 homicides in 2006, a 21-year low. The number of killings had been dropping since 2002.

Police officials are attributing the increase in part to violence involving gangs and drugs. Nonfatal shootings and other gun crimes also were up, according to preliminary data.

Despite the increase in violence, 2007 marked the fourth consecutive year of fewer than 200 homicides in the District. The number of killings also is far lower than the late 1980s and early 1990s, when more than 400 people were slain annually as crack cocaine-related violence ravaged the city.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)