INDIANAPOLIS -- A rash of recent killings underscore Indianapolis' growing gang problem.

Indianapolis police said nearly a third of the city's 15 homicides this year are gang-related, 6News' Jack Rinehart reported.

Brett Reinert, 18, a senior at Scecina Memorial High School, was killed on Feb. 1 when he was shot seven times in the back after a confrontation in Highland Park.

Police said a 17-year-old gang member killed Reinert, who family members said was not in the gang.

"Apparently, Brett got the better end of a silly fistfight, and this is how these people chose to get even," said the victim's aunt, who didn't want to be identified.

Nearby residents, unaccustomed to violence in the area, quickly removed a makeshift memorial erected for the victim.

"We didn't want it there. We don't want them memorializing the park," said a resident who didn't want to be identified. "That's what cemeteries are for, especially since it's gang-related."

A day earlier, police arrested Saul Blanco, 21, in the fatal shootings on two men in a home on the city's north side after an apparent intra-gang dispute.

"It's not uncommon if there's a gang-related homicide that it's followed by another shortly thereafter," said Sgt. Matt Mount.

Indianapolis police have identified 128 separate gangs in the city, with more than 1,100 gang members.

A statewide database is being developed to help the department's criminal gang unit to work with the FBI, school police and the Indiana Department of Homeland Security to track gang activity.

"We want to be especially aware of problems and hotspots and share information with others," said Lt. Marshall DePew.