City residents are on edge because of violence on the streets and city police records support there is reason to be.

Residents are expressing fear over the violence of recent months to candidates seeking public office in the city.

“I was canvassing and knocking on doors and they are concerned,” said Adam Yoder, a Republican seeking his first term on City Council.

Rightfully so, Newberry has seen at least six homicides since 2016, police said.

Five of the six homicides in Newberry involved gunfire, police said.

“We are not unlike other cities,” said Mayor Gabriel J. Campana, who is seeking a fourth term through a write-in campaign. “We put away more drug dealers than any other administration.”

“It’s terrifying,” said Eric Beiter, a Republican mayoral candidate. He described the violators as audacious and said if elected mayor he would begin talks on regionalizing police forces to “put more boots on the ground.”

“I will reiterate that we must continue to cooperate with and trust our local law enforcement,” said Councilman Derek Slaughter, a Democrat seeking to become the next mayor.

He continued: “If you have any information, you need to relay that to the authorities immediately.”

Beiter and Slaughter said the police are trying to solve the crimes but could use assistance in their efforts.

“I’m troubled by the violence,” Mayor Gabriel J. Campana said. Campana is running a write-in campaign in the Nov. 5 election.

No singular neighborhood has been struck harder than Newberry.

This past week, gun shots were fired, striking a man who suffered a non-lifethreatening wound and later the same night, projectiles hit a parked car six blocks away, police said.

Six homicides occurred in Newberry in the past three years:

• A 25-year-old man and his 50-year-old mother were shot to death in their home in the 600 block of Poplar Street on Oct. 31, 2016. Three men were arrested.

• A 31-year-old man was shot and killed in the middle of the afternoon by a masked gunman at Boyd and Arch streets on Dec. 31, 2016. No arrest has been made.

• A 33-year-old man was shot to death in his house in the 2200 block of West Third Street during a home invasion and robbery on the night of Nov. 7, 2017. The suspected gunman then shot and wounded a city police officer who was pursuing him. The gunman then exchanged gunfire with state troopers and other officers who chased after his vehicle on Route 220. The man then turned into Sheetz at Pine Run Road and fired more shots as officers were closing in on him. The drama ended when the man turned the gun on himself and took his own life.

• A 49-year-old woman was found dead with her throat slashed inside her home in the 2500 block of Linn Street on Aug. 16, 2018. Her husband and a man he allegedly hired to kill her have been jailed on homicide-related charges.

• A 48-year-old female customer was shot and killed, and a female clerk was wounded during a robbery at the Uni-Mart at 1944 W. Fourth St. on Aug. 4. Two men have been arrested and jailed on homicide-related charges.

The rest of the city hasn’t been spared. City police agents investigated numerous other shootings over the summer that have occurred in other neighborhoods including:

• Gunning down of 16-year-old Ayliem Coleman during the early-morning hours of July 30 in the 900 block of Market Street. No arrests made, police said. Two weeks before Coleman’s death, Corey Stewart-Richardson, 19, of Williamsport, was shot in the head and survived in the 600 block of Maple Street on July 17. The gunman remains at large. Eleven days after Stewart-Richardson was shot, a 17-year-old boy was wounded in the city’s East End on Almond Street, near Meade Street, on the night of July 28. Police are following leads in this unsolved case.

• During the early evening hours of July 24, a gunman shot and killed motorist Kerry Young, 37, at West Fourth and Elmira streets, and then fled to Lock Haven, where he killed himself hours later during a standoff with police.

• Earlier this year, a man in his 20s, was dropped off at the Williamsport Regional Medical Center emergency room with gunshot wounds on the night of April 24. The victim, who was shot in the area of First and Park avenues, survived and the case remains unsolved.

Those seeking council seats weighed in on the crisis.

“I don’t think you throw more police at shootings,” said David Banks, a Democrat. “Officers do great work, but their’s is a response, not a proactive community-wide approach,” he said.

“You trust the police,” said Tiasha Machuga, a Democrat. “We also need to reach children at a younger age, investing more time with them to keep them out of drugs and gang situations,” she said.

“There is one solution to gun violence,” said Democrat Jon Mackey, a retired Philadelphia police officer. “Aside from that (patrol), society as a whole must change,” he said.

“Newberry was a family-oriented place but it requires boots on the ground,” said Bonnie Katz, a Republican incumbent councilwoman seeking her third term.

Katz said she lived for 30 years on the block where the parked car was struck this past week. It was hit numerous times by projectiles while parked in the 2500 block of West Fourth Street.

“It’s sad and tragic to lose someone to violence,” said Vincent Pulizzi, a Republican. “Hopefully, we get community members more involved who are not afraid to reach out or at least make aware of a volatile situation that could end up in harm or loss of life,” Pulizzi said.

“I don’t know,” said Bill Hall, a Republican and former council president.

Hall suggested that more patrols go out and about and the police use records-management to track where the crimes are occurring and send officers to those locations.

Campana defended his record in office and his effort to reduce crime and save taxpayer money.

“We have attempted to add additional tools, but some people fought us on some of our initiatives,” he said, referencing 13 surveillance cameras that were purchased using a U.S. Department of Justice grant. The council by resolution made the administration put them in city parks due to some council members’ concerns about personal privacy violations and backlash against the city through potential lawsuits.

The mayor mentioned the landlord-tenant ordinance that for a few weeks shuttered numerous rental properties using police and codes officers. The ordinance, which came during his second term in office, was quickly amended following a challenge by a landlord that it was a violation of his Constitutional rights. The federal court ruled in favor of the out-of-state landlord because the ruling indicated the landlord could not know all the time what tenants were doing.

Campana said other tries at tamping down on crime included a proposed drone that police would use but was to be paid for through general fund. The drone idea never got off the ground.

Campana said he served as public safety director while waiving the position’s salary, a role he took on that previously paid $100,000.

“I believe overall we’ve made a difference,” he said.

Reporter Philip A. Holmes contributed to this report