A fatal assault in September has pushed Amarillo's homicide count for this year to 11, and that's more than the previous two years.
Police department spokesman Officer Jeb Hilton said the increase isn't reason for worry and that homicides aren't predictable. He told the Amarillo Globe-News the city of about 190,000 in the Texas Panhandle can go for months without a homicide, and then police can have three or four in a couple of months.
The city reported 10 homicides in 2015 and nine in 2014. There were a dozen in 2013.
FBI statistics based on homicides for every 100,000 people show Amarillo was slightly below the national average last year.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
