NYPD: No weekend shootings in NYC for first time in decades

No shootings occurred in New York City for an entire weekend for the first time in 25 years.

"We went Friday, Saturday, Sunday without any shootings and homicides," New York Police Department Chief James O'Neill told reporters on Monday, Agence France-Presse reported. "That's the first time in decades, and that's something, not just the NYPD, but all New Yorkers can be proud of."

Mayor Bill de Blasio attributed the news to the NYPD's improvements in training and strategy during a speech at an NYPD graduation ceremony.

“Isn’t that amazing? You know, when you think about the history we came from and the challenges that had to be overcome by this NYPD, it’s absolutely extraordinary,” de Blasio told NYPD graduates and attendees on Monday, according to WPIX-TV. “But I want to emphasize, a city of 8.6 million people – not a single shooting for three days.”

Police said the last time NYC had a weekend without shootings was 1993.

The three-day streak began Thursday after a shooting in the Bronx. It ended Monday afternoon with another shooting in the Bronx.

How many shootings this year?

As of Oct. 7, there have been 600 shootings across the five NYC boroughs, down 2 percent over the same period in 2017.

But shootings have also spiked at times. Authorities told reporters that the weekend of Oct. 6-7 was "terrible" for shootings, according to AFP.

What about murders?

Murders in NYC are on the rise in 2018, although they remain near historic lows.

During the first half of the year, police recorded 147 murders, mostly in the Bronx and Brooklyn, reports showed. That number was up by 8 percent over the same period last year.

In 2017, murders hit the lowest level since the 1950s with a total of 292.