Homicides down year-over-year in Topeka

TOPEKA (KSNT) - Homicide in the capital city is down significantly compared to this time last year.

With the fatal shooting of Brian Wright Jr. last week, Topeka police say they're now on their eighth murder investigation of 2024. By the end of June last year, the city had already seen 19 murders.

The Community Inspired Violence Intervention Coalition (CIVIC) is holding town hall meetings across the city to empower neighborhood leaders to take action on violence reduction in their areas.

CIVIC held one such meeting at the Oakland community center on Monday. One of the attendees was Robert Soria, who says he's a long-time Oakland resident.

Soria says it's great violence is down this year, but that doesn't mean the work is finished. He says mental health struggles are a contributor to violent crimes.

"Obviously, one is too many," Soria said. "You don't want to lose anybody in your community to violence like that. Mental health is probably one of the causes. People are stressed and then there's people dealing with mental health issues. So I would like to see the city and county work better together to address those issues."

CIVIC's next 'Action Planning Session' takes place at Hillcrest Community Center at 11:00 a.m. on June 24.'

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