BALTIMORE — Baltimore could wrap up 2019 with its highest per-capita homicide rate on record as killings of adults and minors alike for drugs, retribution, money or no clear reason continue to add up and city officials appear unable to stop the violence. Police recorded 338 homicides as of Tuesday, following a week of relentless gunfire that saw eight people shot — three of them fatally — in one day and nine others — one fatally — another day. That total is up from 309 in 2018 and four shy of the 342 killings tallied in 2017 and 2015, the year when the city's homicide rate suddenly spiked.

With just over 600,000 residents, Baltimore's homicide rate would reach about 57 per 100,000 residents if the death toll reaches 342. That would eclipse the rate of 1993, when the city had a record 353 killings but was also much more populous.

By contrast, New York City, with more than 8 million residents, had 306 homicides through Dec. 15.

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan’s attorney general on Wednesday said her communications director’s statement announcing the suspension of a nearly two-year criminal investigation into Michigan State University’s handling of complaints against serial sexual abuser Larry Nassar was “inadvertently misleading.”Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a written statement that the investigation is ongoing.The probe, which began under Nessel’s predecessor, has resulted in charges against three former school officials. One was convicted. Two others, including former president Lou Anna Simon, were ordered to trial. Their cases will continue to be prosecuted.“A recent comment from our communications director regarding our department’s investigation ... was inadvertently misleading and demands clarification,” Nessel said. “For the record, I remain deeply committed to finding the truth about who knew what about Larry Nassar at MSU.”