It is unfortunate that Natchez has experienced another round of shootings that law enforcement officers say they believe are retaliatory in nature.

Last year was violent year in Natchez and Adams County with 14 murders, many of which law enforcement said they believe to have been retaliatory in nature. For the past several months, however, the shootings seemed to have ceased in part because of better policing and because of surveillance cameras that have been installed throughout the city.

Recently, however, a couple of shootings have occurred that law enforcement said they believe are retaliatory in nature. Natchez Police Department and Adams County Sheriff’s Office personnel have combined forces, shared information and are working together in a combined effort to swiftly bring an end to the latest round of apparent retaliatory shootings.

They need help from the public, though.

Both Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten and Natchez Police Chief Walter Armstrong have said they often have difficulty getting input from eyewitnesses or in some cases even victims of crimes.

For whatever reason, victims and eyewitnesses do not want to share information on who might have perpetrated a crime against them or their family members, friends or neighbors. That does nothing to help solve a crime much less punish the perpetrators; much less help prevent more such crimes from being committed. If you see, something say something has been the mantra in recent months.

We urge people to share information with law enforcement that will help solve crimes and help keep future crimes from being committed.

The Sheriff’s Office offers two ways for people to report crimes and potential crime anonymously if the callers would like by calling 911 or using the 411 app available on the Adams County Sheriff’s Office’s website at adamscosheriff.org.

The Natchez Police Department also encourages people to call with information at 601-445-5565 or for anonymous reporting, Crime Stoppers at 601-442-5000.

Together as a community we can end this cycle of violence.