LAS VEGAS (AP) — Crime is spiking in Las Vegas and spurring questions about causes and cures.
Shootings on the Strip and the brazen killing of a liquor store clerk who couldn't open a safe in April grabbed headlines.
But they're just a few of the 75 slayings in Las Vegas so far this year, compared with 45 by the same date last year.
And last year saw more homicides, 136, than any time since 2006.
The local sheriff, police union officials and district attorney have various theories about what's behind the body count. They cite everything from officer staffing to gang activity to jail release policies locally and in California.
In Washington, D.C., FBI Director James Comey even cited Las Vegas recently as an example of a rise in violence across the nation.