MEMPHIS — With its latest apparent shooting death, Memphis hit 214 homicides this year, a record for this city beset by gang activity and gun crime, police said Friday.
The body of the record-setting victim was found Friday by a co-worker who went to check on a colleague, Memphis police spokesman Louis Brownlee said. The body had a gunshot wound, and a preliminary investigation shows it may have been the result of a home invasion, he said.
One person is in custody. Police are still investigating.
Memphis has now surpassed the previous record of 213 homicides, set in 1993. The closest Memphis had been to that number was in 1995, when there were 195 homicides. Last year, Memphis saw 161 homicides.
Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings issued a statement after the record-tying homicide was announced earlier Friday, saying it is "horrible news." He said 173 of the homicides were committed with a firearm, and nearly half of the 214 victims knew their assailants.
"These are family members, friends, neighbors, and known associates that were senselessly killed by someone that they loved or trusted," Rallings said.
Rallings was named interim police chief in January, replacing Toney Armstrong, who retired. Rallings was elevated to the permanent police director job by Mayor Jim Strickland in August.
Seventy-two of this year's homicides involved gang members, Rallings said.
In July, Rallings challenged the city to go 30 days without a killing. That didn't last a day, with a man fatally shot hours after Rallings' plea.