DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA) — People in Decatur are looking for answers after three separate shootings, including a murder, and a drunk driving arrest all happened in a matter of days and within three miles of each other.

The close proximity of each of these crimes is leading some to ask whether these events are connected.

Decatur Police said it started at the corner of 16th and Lawrence Street. A 20-year-old was shot, and his mother said he was in surgery for nine hours and was put on a ventilator. He has since been taken off it.

Then, six hours later, 54-year-old Tracy Cunningham was shot at Church Street and Lawrence Avenue. He died at the hospital, but that wasn’t the end of the violence.

The day after Cunningham’s murder, a vigil was held in his honor. Police said a 48-year-old woman was driving there when she was shot in the leg — at the same intersection.

“We don’t know that she was exactly the target of the shooting or if, by chance, she was hit by some random gunfire,” said Decatur Police Chief Brad Allen.

Allen said she is ok, but as officers were investigating the latest shooting, a car drove into the crime scene, hit a police car and was stopped a few blocks away. The driver was arrested on several charges, including aggravated driving under the influence.

Allen said the grouping of these events has led to some temporary changes in Decatur Police’s practices.

“When things like this happen, we target areas that are hot,” Allen said. “We target some known offenders.”

Even with these recent crimes, Allen said overall, the city has made strides in reducing gun violence. He said that as of July, there have been 41 shootings, compared to 52 last year and 61 in 2023.

“I guess no numbers are good, but we’re trending in the right direction,” Allen said. “We’re reducing the number of shootings.”

Allen added the department has also taken 165 illegal guns off the street.

“The community and some of the groups that are working for violence prevention and the police, we all need to come together and make a stance that enough is enough,” Allen said.

One of those groups is Old King’s Orchard Community Center.

“Anytime that there’s violence in the community, it impacts the community as a whole,” said youth advocate Dominique Bates. “It hits pretty close to home when it’s literally right around the corner.”

On Wednesday, Old King’s Orchard started its new after-school program, which helps kids with school and teaches them life skills like cooking.

Bates and the students themselves said this has been making a difference.

“If I didn’t have those different avenues, then I might be where I was at. I might be on the streets, I might be in violent situations,” Bates said. “So just being able to have those programs, they have said has made a huge impact on their life.” said Bates.”

Decatur Police is asking for the public’s help in finding the people responsible for these shootings. They’re looking for witnesses, tips or surveillance video for their investigation.