BATON ROUGE - More than halfway through the year, Baton Rouge Police crime stats show homicide stats are up. Though the department hasn’t officially published its mid-year stats, records from previous years show an increase.

Through the end of July 2024, Baton Rouge has had 59 homicides. In the same period in 2023, the number was 51, and in the first half of 2022, the city recorded 55 homicides. That number is down from the 61 homicides during the same period in 2021.

Wednesday afternoon, Baton Rouge Police were called to a death scene on Dayton Street. There, a man was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds in a ditch.

Just across the street from the scene, a preschool was placed on temporary lockdown when shots rang out. It was a scary situation for kids and an ongoing worry for the police.

"We did see a spike in shootings around the early part of this year,” Sandra Watts with BRPD said.

While police investigated on Dayton Street, officers knocked on doors in another part of town along Wayne Drive. Their goal was to learn more about a recent crime along the street.

"Where recent stuff has been happening, or if there's been a rash of something that's been happening, that's the place that we go to," one investigator said.

Investigators say after crime tape comes down, there are often still unanswered questions. Investigators say talking to neighbors casually after the official investigation can ease tensions.