The District of Columbia is experiencing an alarming increase in homicides in 2023, reaching 100 at its earliest date in two decades, an outlier in a year when other metros are experiencing fewer murders.

The Metropolitan Police Department recorded 102 homicides as of June 6 — a 19 percent rise from the 86 homicides reported during the same period last year. The last time the city reached the 100-homicide mark this early in the year was in 2003, when the year ended with 248 total murders.

In previous years, the city reached its 100th homicide later in the year, with 2020 reaching the ugly mark on June 24, and 2021 on July 10. The average date for the 100th homicide over the past 15 years has been September 16.

The increase in homicides accompanies a rise in other serious crimes, including robberies and sexual assaults. Violent crime has surged by 16 percent in D.C. this year.

“We have to have a city that says, ‘enough is enough.’ We won’t tolerate people using guns and killing our children, and I’ve said it in every way I know how.” Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said in May.

The D.C. Police Union confirmed the accuracy of the 100-homicide count and attributed the rise in crime to the implementation of police-reform legislation by the D.C. Council. “The Council’s actions have had a chilling effect on professional and responsible policing and caused over 1,200 police officers to leave the agency,” union chairman Gregg Pemberton said in a statement.

While Washington D.C. is grappling with rising homicides, other major U.S. cities, including Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis, have observed considerable declines in their homicide rates through May, according to crime researcher Jeff Asher, who tracks national murder statistics.