CUMBERLAND COUNTY, N.C. — Murder cases were down in the city of Fayetteville over the past year, but were up in the county. According to law enforcement, it is hard to explain exactly why.

Figures released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics show that there were 18 murders in Fayetteville last year. That is four fewer than the year before.

"It gives me a sense of confidence and security as far as walking the streets," resident Cookie Canady said.

Canady comes to downtown Fayetteville almost every day for work or play.

"Years ago, I wouldn't work downtown. The crime rate was very high," she said.

In the county, there were 25 murders last year, up from 16 the year before.

Sheriff Moose Butler said that murder is a hard crime to predict

and

prevent.

"Most of these murders, they're dealing with drugs and domestic violence situations. Of course, when you get into try to explain that, there's no way to explain why people do this," Butler said.

Since 2000, the Cumberland County's sheriff's office has solved every crime in the county, except for one.

"Even though we can't prevent them because [of] the way the crime is committed, we certainly have people working and solving them," Butler said.