BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Kern County is on track for another deadly year.

Halfway through 2020, the county has been the site of 35 homicides with 17 of those in the city of Bakersfield. That figure also includes eight killings in Delano, with each victim 21 or younger.

The youngest victim was an 11-year-old girl. She and another girl were killed in a shooting there last week.

The Delano Police Department issued a statement Monday announcing the beginning of a Delano-McFarland Regional Gang Suppression unit. This unit will be in effect until further notice, focusing its efforts on gang members, the locations they frequent, and using whatever resources are available to disrupt senseless gang violence.