The most recent was early Monday morning when a man was found shot to death. He is the father of a 17-year-old suspect who the district attorney's office says will be charged as an adult in the beating of a city worker last week.
"He is not a violent person at all and I got a majority of people who can attest to that," Matthew Hicks said just three days ago as he defended his son.
The 42-year-old father was killed at his home, shot in the head by an unknown gunman. Police do not think the two events are related.
"Right now, there's no information indicating that the city employee's assault has any connection with the murder," said Vallejo Police Lt. Abel Tenorio.
Hick's death comes two days after a man was shot and killed at a liquor store. In the past week, there has also been a triple stabbing and the shooting of ice cream truck driver Amarjit Kaur during a robbery attempt in front of a preschool.
"We are still doing what we can to provide safety," Vallejo Mayor Osby Davis said Monday.
Davis met with the city manager and police chief to address Vallejo's spike in crime. It comes as the bankrupt city's police force has been reduced by one-third in the past two years, due to budget cuts.
"I say to the people of Vallejo, that the police department is doing a Herculean job in apprehending the responsible parties for at least half of those crimes that occurred this past week," Davis told reporters.
So far, there have been two Vallejo High School students arrested for the videotaped beating of the city worker. A 14-year-old has been arrested as an accomplice in the ice cream truck shooting. Police are still looking for the boy believed to be the shooter, 15-year-old Peter Montenegro.
"We believe he is not in the city of Vallejo, possibly in the City of Hayward," said Lt. Tenorio. "We have a warrant for his arrest. The authorities in that area have been notified."
Besides the two boys already in custody in the beating of the city worker, police say they expect to make more arrests in that case. There is no one in custody and no arrests have been made either murder case. Mayor Davis said he would have a more comprehensive statement on the crime plaguing his city on Tuesday.
