Shootings, murders rise dramatically in NYC last week amid backdrop of protests

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Police respond at a looted store last week in SoHo, Manhattan.
NY POST Photo/Corey Sipkin

Murders and shootings in the Big Apple skyrocketed last week compared to the same period last year, law enforcement sources said.

From last Monday to Sunday night, there were 13 murders in the city, compared to five killings during the same week last year, sources said.

The city reported 40 shootings last week — the most in a week since 2015. In the same time period in 2019, there were 24 shootings, sources said.

The increase in violence came as demonstrators marched city streets to protest the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

The majority of the protests were peaceful, but on some nights the demonstrations were overshadowed by looting and the destruction of stores in several boroughs.

At least one shooting in SoHo last Monday morning was linked to looters, police sources have said.