OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma City will conclude 2012 with a grim record — the second highest number of homicides ever recorded in Oklahoma's largest city.
City police records show that as of Monday, a total of 99 people were killed by another person during the year, the most since 102 people were killed in 1979. The city recorded just 60 homicides in 2011.
Tulsa Police Department records indicate that 46 people died in homicides in the state's second largest city 2012.
Sergeant Gary Knight of the Oklahoma City Police Department says the reason homicides go up or down is hard to pin down but that gang activity, illegal drug trafficking and domestic violence are the principle causes.
Police Chief Bill Citty says aggravated assaults have increased in recent years, leading to more homicides.