ORLANDO, Fla. – After weeks of relative calm in Orlando during the coronavirus pandemic, a violent weekend left three teenagers dead and three others injured in three separate shootings.

• 3 teens were killed over the weekend in separate shootings
• But overall, crime is down in Orlando, according to police
• Police are working to keep the downward trend going

Chief Orlando Rolon said that while unusual, none of these shootings were related. And while crime has dropped dramatically during stay-at-home orders, Rolon said there will be people who continue to commit violent crimes like the ones this weekend.

Homicides right now in Orlando are on the rise. From March through mid-April, Orlando has reported seven homicides. That’s up from this time last year, when just four were reported. 

“In Central Florida, we have seen our ups and downs when it comes to homicides but these situations where you have numerous homicides occur back to back to back is rare. But the key point to remember is none of these three incidents were connected,” Chief Rolon said.

Overall, crime is going down during the pandemic.

Child abuse and domestic violence reports in that same time frame are down. And Orlando Police say they’ve seen major crimes drop by nearly one-third, from just under 3,200 crimes reported last year to a little over 2,300 during the same period this year.

Lt. Jonathan Bigelow said that downtick in crime is in part because people are following stay-at-home orders and are paying extra attention to what’s happening outside.

“Neighborhoods are watching out for one another and that might attribute to the fact that there is a decrease in some of the crimes. Criminals don’t feel they can exploit the residents here because everyone’s home, they’re not at work where we see sometimes an increase in home burglaries or car burglaries, or whatever the case is,” said Lt. Bigelow, Special Enforcement Commander with Orlando Police.

That big dip in numbers is allowing officers to spend more time focusing on drug complaints and tracking down drug dealers. And school resource officers are able to help with patrols as well as monitoring testing and food distribution sites around town.

While the pandemic keeps many at home for now, police are studying what’s working right now, in an effort to keep this downward trend going and crime rates low even after the city opens back up.