DENVER (KDVR) — Two trends are playing out in Aurora that make the city’s violent crime seem more visible than the rest of the state: the rise in violent crime itself and the amount of that crime that takes place with firearms.

In recent weeks, the Aurora community has been rocked by four high-profile shootings. The particulars of each shooting differ but one common thread is teenagers with firearms.

Colorado’s violent crime rose in the turbulent summer of 2020 and has stayed up since then. It is not a statewide pattern, however. Of Colorado’s 10 largest cities, only Denver’s and Aurora’s crime rates have risen substantially in the last five years.

A FOX31 Data Desk analysis of Colorado Bureau of Investigation data found that most of Colorado’s 10 largest cities have actually seen a decrease in violent crime in 2021. Of course, CBI data is only current through mid-November 2021 so rates will rise through the rest of the year, but there are trends to see nonetheless.

The violent crime rate has dropped in Thornton, Lakewood, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Greeley, Pueblo and Westminster since 2017.

In Denver, it has risen 8%.

Aurora’s violent crime rate stands alone in severity. It has risen 30% since 2017.

Most of this increase comes from aggravated assaults.

The number of aggravated assaults in Aurora nearly doubled in five years, from 1,263 to just over 2,300.

In the same time, the other violent crimes of murder, sex assault, and robbery stayed more or less even. The percentage of Aurora’s violent crime that is aggravated assault went from 50% to 65%.