Overwhelmed Police Sorting Through Seven Murders In Seven Days In Gary, Ind.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Two male teens were found fatally shot in Gary, Indiana, Thursday in what investigators believe is a likely double homicide.
The shooting happened around noon at 13th Avenue and Lane Street.
The Medical Examiner's Office identified the victims as 17-year-old Raymond Washington-Whitehead and 18-year-old James Powell.
The victims' families tell CBS 2 both were friends. One body was discovered in a home, the other in a yard after neighbors heard about five shots fired.
There are no suspects in custody. The Lake County/Gary Metro Homicide Unit is handling the investigation.
With the latest deaths, there have been seven murders in the last week in Gary. To date, in 2015, there have been 36 murders, compared to 20 at this point last year, an 80 percent spike. There were 51 murders all of last year in Gary.
At the same time, the Gary Police Department has seen more than two dozen officers leave the force since the beginning of the year, and Lake County Sheriff John Buncich has been tasked with bolstering police presence in Gary.
Buncich concedes the wave of violence in Gary is unpleasant and gives the appearance that authorities are not in control.
"We have to take back control. We have to take back control of the streets here," Buncich said. "We're going to put every resource we have. We're going to take the city back. I don't care what it takes."
The other homicides during the past week in Gary include:
-Alec McCloud, 44, who was found shot to death inside his car Monday night at 5th Avenue and Roosevelt Street;
-Valerie Gonzalez, 27, who was shot in the chest Monday night at 25th Avenue and Clark Road;
-Daja Brookshire, 15, who was shot Sunday night as she was getting out of a car at her grandmother's home at 7th Avenue and Adams Street;
-Untonise Harper, 22, who was shot and killed early Sunday in the 700 block of Broadway;
-Terrence L. Sallee II, 24, who was killed in a drive-by shooting near 21st Avenue and Polk Street.