Los Angeles, Apr 20 (IANS): A total of 34 people were shot in Los Angeles in a "troubling week," local media reported citing Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department Michel Moore.

The police chief told the Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday that 23 of the shootings happened within a "remarkably small area" last week in the second-largest city in the US, Xinhua news agency reported citing City News Service.

"The problem that we have throughout Los Angeles is that too many guns in too many hands," Moore was quoted as saying.

So far, 70 people have been shot in Los Angeles this month, which was 55 during the same period last year. There have been 107 homicides, till now, in 2022, while at this point last year, there were 109. While the number has decreased slightly in 2022, Moore said, it still represents a 37 per cent increase over a two-year period, City News Service reported.

Violent crime has increased 7.1 per cent year-to-date, with 575 additional violent crimes reported, primarily aggravated assaults, street robberies, and commercial robberies, the news outlet reported, citing Moore.

Over 23,000 people have died or been injured due to gun-related incidents in the United States so far this year, according to a database run by the nonprofit research group Gun Violence Archive.