In just the first 19 days of the year, five people have been shot and three of those were killed in the city of Merced.

MERCED, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A recent spike in violence has prompted the Merced Police Department to increase patrols and expand gang suppression efforts across the city. Police say five people have been shot in Merced so far this month – three of those shootings were deadly.

Shots were fired near a vigil Wednesday night for the two 14-year-old boys killed in a shooting earlier this week, according to Merced police. The vigil was being held near the makeshift memorials outside the Merced Urology Medical Group building on East 13th Street.