This year alone, Saginaw County police said they've responded to more than a dozen homicides.
An officer told NBC25, there were a string of shootings years ago. The way they curbed the violence was through traffic stops. Crimes went down, but now they are back up.
One Saginaw resident said, there are ways to fix the problem and it starts with the community.
"This can happen to anybody and it's got to stop," the anonymous source said.
One shooting happened on the 2100 block of Whittier. Tamaris 'T.J.' Steward, 11, was shot and killed.
Another deadly shooting happened on Fulton and Walcott where a traffic stop went bad. Keontae Amerson, 24, was killed by police after an exchange of fire.
NBC25's source did not want to be identified in order to ensure his safety. He said, there are a few things that can possibly stop the violence.
"The best situation for them is to create some kind of job for these kids or some kind of program to keep them off these streets," he said.
He also thinks the police are part of the problem. When officials are in a situation, he said, they don't have to shot and kill a suspect.
"They could have shot them in their feet, in their hand, anything then take people's lives like that," he added.
However, he said he knows, "we can't predict what's going to happen."
What he does know is, "people have to figure out a way to fix this. We don't have nobody to go to but ourselves," he told NBC25.
Authorities said, the economical state also plays a part in crime. When things get tough, shootings seem to spike.
