COLUMBIA - A series of high-profile murders and gun assaults in 2013 spurred conversations about the level of crime in mid-Missouri.

Columbia Police Department spokeman Sgt. Joe Bernhard said having four killings in four months, in addition to several shootings, was "unusual" for the area. "Over the last 20 years crime has decreased or stayed steady," he said.

KOMU 8 News created the timeline below to highlight crimes in its viewing area from Jan. 3, 2013 through the end of October.

Readers can navigate through the timeline by clicking on the gray buttons that appear when the mouse hovers over the frame; by using their left and right arrow keys, or by using the slider at the bottom of the timeline.

Images link to the stories published by KOMU 8 News on the selected dates. (This is the third in a three-part series: Crime in Your Community. Part One focuses on a survey of viewers. Part Two maps crime through-out mid-Missouri.)

(This is the third of the three part Crime in Your Community Series. Part One focuses on viewer opinion, while Part Two features a map showing crime rates across mid-Missouri and the nation for comparison purposes).

Michelle Schuelke, Addison Walton, Jake Lasofsky and Taylor Beck contributed to this report.