Puerto Rico’s violent death toll so far this year exceeded 100 on Monday when a man was shot to death in Cataño, near San Juan, police said.

Marlon Rivera Torres was shot multiple times as he was riding along a highway in Cataño, and on Sunday night a 19-year-old man was also riddled with bullets and killed in the northern coastal town of Barceloneta.

The 100 violent deaths registered so far in 2012 amount to 36 fewer than had occurred last year by the same date.

Puerto Rico experienced the most violent year in its history in 2011 with 1,136 murders, or an average of more than three killings per day, an increase of 15 percent over 2010 and the highest figure since 1940.

Gov. Luis Fortuño has asked for more cooperation from authorities in Washington in battling the crime wave besetting the U.S. commonwealth.