TIJUANA – A total of 15 people have been killed in the city in the last six days, three of them Monday, state authorities announced.

It was just last Thursday when the State Attorney General's office noted that there had been 326 murders in the city to date; but by Tuesday that number had spiked to 341.

The latest deaths were reported Monday, all on the city's east side.

At 2:20 p.m. a man was shot to death on Higo Street in the El Florido Primera Sección neighborhood. The victim, identified as Noé Sobrevilla Alvarado, 28, was found sprawled on the sidewalk with three bullet wounds. Investigators recovered five spent 9 mm shells.

A man's body was found around 8 p.m. at the base of the hill in the neighborhood of Hacienda Las Delicias. The unidentified body was found among the weeds. The victim appeared to be 30 to 35 years old, had a thin build and dark skin. He had a tattoo on his chest that said "Perla y Esmeralda."

State authorities said the body had cuts on his face and body as well as wound on the left side of the head.

A third person was shot to death around 8:50 p.m. in the Licea Cárdenas Alley in the Manuel Paredes neighborhood. Authorities identified the victim as Francisco Javier Martínez Arenas, 36. He was found with multiple bullet wounds sitting in the driver's seat of a green Nissan Maxima. Investigators found seven spent .45 mm shells and three deformed ones.

State authorities said that the way criminals groups are carrying out killings has changed since last fall. Their members are no longer routinely using high-powered rifles nor subjecting their victims to sadistic acts and then putting them on public display, though there have been exceptions. However, the criminals are using weapons that are less deafening but just as lethal, the authorities said.

The state Attorney General's Office said there have been 180 fewer killings this year to Aug. 30, compared to the same period last year. But the deadly drug-related violence continues, just with less intensity.

Omar.millan@sandiegored.com