April homicide rate down from 2006

More people made it through last month in Houston than last April, according to unofficial HPD statistics. This April recorded 30 homicides, compared to last year's 31. That brings the 2007 total to 119, also down from last year's 123. Within that number, only about 2 each month involved Katrina evacuees, compared to the 20% of last year's total number.

But every silver lining has its dark cloud. While the number of homicides has decreased overall this year, there was a spike in March with 37 murders. Nearly a third of those were gang-related, which indicates that gang violence is on the rise, so be careful who you flash your lights at. Police also believe that many murders in Houston are also related to the drug trade. Captain Dale Brown of HPD's homicide divison says that most murders involve "people engaged in crimes or some other kind of conflict that's settled by use of force."

Although there were fewer murders last month, several of them made national headlines. You might recall the gunman at the Johnson Space Center who killed himself and his supervisor or the man who killed the manager of his Galleria-area apartment complex before committing suicide. Just remember, kids: stay alert, stay alive.