On Monday afternoon, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones addressed this past weekend's violence downtown, where five people were shot, in four separate incidents.
"My administration has already taken action on a variety of public safety issues downtown," Jones said.
Crime downtown had dropped off for a couple of weeks, but this weekend, shootings injured a 78-year-old woman and and critically injured a 55-year-old man at 13th and Convention. Police believe they were caught up in crossfire.
At 14th and Washington, a group of people opened fire on two men in a car, critically injuring one. And at 14th and Lucas, a man walking to his car, was shot and two other young people showed up at Cardinal Glennon after being shot. Police believe that happened by the Architect Stunning Lofts.
Mayor Jones denied the police department being down 102 officers is part of the problem.
"A study that was done that was funded by the regional business commission and other business leaders showed that St. Louis acutaly has enough officers, they just need to deploy them in the right way," she said.
St. Louis Police officers are working 12 hour shifts on the weekends downtown, bike patrols have been increased and St. Louis sheriffs also provide a physical presence on weekends in an attempt to curb crime.