DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — New homicide numbers coming out of DeKalb County are startling and have pushed residents to think of ways to escape the uptick in recent violence.
Within the past week, investigators say multiple people have either been shot, stabbed or beaten to death - and they fear it could only get worse as the summer season approaches.
It's a deadly trend that DeKalb resident Karamo Wright is trying to escape.
"We're looking to move out. It's been crazy," Wright told 11Alive's Ron Jones.
The DeKalb County Police Department has been tracking the crimes, and say the increase in violence has been across the whole county - not just localized to one area.
Authorities have logged nine homicides ... in just the last seven days. But that's just a slice of the crimes that happened in that same time span - there were also seven sex crimes, 23 robberies and 317 assaults.
The staggering numbers has residents 11Alive spoke to fed up.
"Yeah, definitely want to leave the county," admitted Chrishana Wright.
She and Karamo have lived it the county for the last 20 years, but say that is changing.
"We have a 13-year-old daughter and a 17-year-old son and I wouldn't trust them being on the bus without us or anything," Chrishana said.
Mike Robinson, another resident, said the numbers are definitely a cause for concern.
"People want to feel safe," he said.
11Alive asked the DeKalb County Police Department whether the violent and sometimes deadly crimes are connected. They said each one is unique and unrelated - it's just an unfortunate trend. As far as motives, they're all still being investigated.
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