A flurry of shooting incidents in Dorchester —including the brazen murder of a barber in his own store on Washington Street near Grove Hall— has prompted renewed anxiety about an uptick in violence.

Although violent, part one crime is technically down citywide, according to Boston Police statistics, but there has been a significant increase in homicides in Dorchester, specifically in Area C-11, one of four police zones in the neighborhood. There were ten homicides in District 11 through Oct. 23, six more than the year before and well above the five-year-average of six murders.

Last Wednesday (Oct. 26) evening, there was an 11th murder in C-11 when an unknown gunman burst into Celebrity Cuts barbershop and fired on Herman Maxwell Hylton, a 43-year-old Roxbury man who was a co-owner of the shop. Hylton, who was cutting a young boy’s hair at the time of the assault around 7 p.m., was declared dead at the scene by Boston EMS.

Police say they are actively reviewing “the facts and circumstances” of the incident but have made no arrests. It was the fourth murder since the previous Friday in Dorchester and Mattapan.

Universal Hub also reported on a serious incident that took place on Saturday night (Oct. 29) when a man was shot repeatedly on Erie Street near Four Corners, not far from the scene of the barbershop murder. The homicide unit was called in due to the severity of the victim’s injuries in that incident. There has been no further information given on the incident, which happened around 10:30 p.m.

On Sunday, just before 6 a.m., three people were shot inside the La Parilla restaurant at 299 Hancock St near Glover’s Corner. A man was found at the scene with a gunshot wound to the chest, and a woman sustained a minor wound to the leg, according to Universal Hub. Stanley Staco, who monitors police and EMS activity online, reported that a third victim was dropped off at a local emergency room. Although the BPD’s homicide unit was called in due to the severity of one of the victim’s injuries, there have been no reported fatalities from that incident.

The shooting incidents follow several murders in Dorchester and Mattapan last month, including the Oct. 4 shooting death of a 19-year-old Dorchester teen near Fields Corner. This week, Boston Police identified the young victim as Christian Berryman, who was found with a gunshot wound near 38 Westville St. around 12:40 a.m. Police have asked for the public’s assistance in supplying any tips in his murder.

The uptick in violence has promoted some, including Rev. Bruce Wall and Rev. Kevin Peterson of Dorchester, to call for a “state of emergency” to be declared in the city’s predominantly Black neighborhoods, including Dorchester and Mattapan.

Anxieties were also heightened last week when a seven-year-old student at UP Academy/Holland School was found to have brought a loaded gun to the school campus on Olney Street.

In an interview given to WBUR 90.9FM this week, Peterson said that people in hard-hit sections of the neighborhood are concerned that violence is “out of control.”

Rep. Liz Miranda, on the same WBUR program, said: “I know that gun deaths and shootings have been down, but when you live in a community like Roxbury or Dorchester that doesn’t matter when you lose your children or your siblings.” Miranda, who is running for state Senate in next week’s election, added: “There’s just too many guns in our communities and high capacity weapons. A seven-year-old, a second grader, showing up to school with a loaded gun is deeply, deeply problematic for our city and everyone should care.”