LEWISTON – Police officials in Lewiston had begun to believe a full year might pass without a single homicide being committed in the city. Then, on the evening of Nov. 8, a shot was fired on Grove Street and a man lay dead at his dining room table.

The first homicide in Lewiston in 2006 was recorded when Gerard Poirier was gunned down at a party to celebrate his 65th birthday. His son, Scott Poirier, has been charged with murder.

The Lewiston shooting was the 18th homicide in the state this year. Since Poirier’s death, three more people have been slain in Maine, bringing the state total to 21. It’s the highest number of homicides here since 1999, when 25 people were slain.

Though the numbers are slightly higher than in recent years, police are keeping the homicide rate in perspective.

“There are some cities in other states that had 21 murders in the first quarter of the year,” said Lewiston deputy police Chief Michael Bussiere. “Maine is still a very safe state to live in.”

There are also different ways in which to look at the final numbers. It is suspected, for instance, that four of the year’s homicides were committed by one man during a weekend killing spree.

The grisly killings at, or near, the Black Bear Bed & Breakfast in Newry over Labor Day weekend have been attributed to 31-year-old Christian C. Nielsen. Police say Nielsen killed one man in Upton and then shot three women at the inn to cover up the earlier crime. He has been charged with four counts of murder.

The state in 2006 has been vexed by homicides committed late in the year. Three slayings have been investigated by Maine State Police in the past three weeks alone, according to Maine Public Safety Spokesman Stephen McCausland.

On Nov. 12, a Searsport man was stabbed to death; his brother has been charged with manslaughter. On Nov. 24, the remains of 18-year-old Amy Drake were found in woods off River Road in Norridgewock. She had been missing since late September, and police suspect foul play was involved in her death.

On Tuesday morning in Palmyra, 13-year-old Anthony Tucker was shot to death in the front yard of his home. His mother’s boyfriend has been charged with murder.

The number of homicides so far in Maine is the highest since the turn of the century. But police are not particularly concerned that the numbers represent a trend or an overall increase in violence in the state.

“Obviously, we never want to be higher than any other year,” Bussiere said. “We’d like to have zero every year. But statistically, I don’t believe it’s very significant.”

The ten-year average for homicides in Maine remains at 20 per year, according to Maine Department of Public Safety records. Most slayings are typically attributed to domestic violence, though a breakdown of individual cases is not expected until the start of 2007.