A recent spate of killings in Port Arthur left police here scrambling for both clues and suspects over the weekend and it left people in our community apparently bewildered and rightfully concerned.

Four people died in two days of homicides last week — in 2017, Port Arthur experienced five murders all year — with no obvious proof that the killings were related. Our community, it seems, suffered outbursts of violence from many sources, which is alarming enough in itself.

The first man to die, Jose Pompas Leal, 27, lost consciousness behind the wheel of his car at a busy Port Arthur intersection at midday Thursday, causing what police said was a “horrific” wreck involving several vehicles.

The violence that took Leal’s life was extended to innocent members of the public, who had the tragic misfortune of simply passing through the wrong intersection at the wrong time. Seven people were transported to area hospitals after the wreck; none of them deserved to be drawn into somebody else’s mayhem.

But that’s how violence can evolve in public and spin out of control. At another killing, a toddler was inside the house. When untrained, unskilled shooters pull the trigger, everyone is at risk.

The killings that followed — Kevin Tran was shot in the head at a residence Thursday afternoon, Jonah Rivera was shot in the mouth at a Sabine Pass home Friday and Ervin Michael Jefferson died by a knife wound following a argument late Friday — left investigators relentlessly following leads.

The public expressed its own dismay on social media. One person wrote that Sabine Pass, typically a quiet Port Arthur neighborhood, ought to build a wall to keep “thugs” out. Another writer wondered how Port Arthur police can come together to solve crime when the department appears to be fractured from within, alluding to disputes involving Melvin and rank-and-file officers in the police association. (Law enforcement professionals, even in seemingly divided departments, typically close ranks quickly when it comes to protecting the public.)

The sheer volume of deadly violence makes it more difficult to solve each case after the first. And when the violence starts, no one knows where it will end or who might be affected, even at random. That’s why the police need the public’s help.

Chief Patrick Melvin, repeating the public safety mantra, “If you see something, say something,” sought the public’s participation last week in solving these cases. That’s the right course. Right-minded people, either from a sense of civic duty, for the protection of their family and neighbors or for their own self-interests, ought to step forward and share what information they have with investigators — this time and every time.

Here’s the Port Arthur police department’s number: 409-983-8600.