Solving the GTHA’s gun problem

Shootings across southern Ontario are on the rise and a group representing police chiefs say authorities cannot solve the problem alone.

In Toronto, five teens between the ages of 16-18 are expected to survive after what Toronto Police are calling a ‘targeted’ shooting in the city’s west end last night.

Police there say 235 people have been shot in the city so far this year.

In Hamilton, there have been 38 shootings so far. Thirteen more than all of last year.

Earlier this month, 29 year old Obsa Junedi-Mohamed became Hamilton’s 5th shooting victim after he was gunned down outside of Boulevard Billiards on York Boulevard.

Earlier today, Hamilton police promoted Ryan Diodati to Deputy Police Chief. Diodati fronted several units including the Make Safe Task Force, which was created in February to tackle the rising gun violence. It lasted three months before it was cancelled. But Diodati says the work hasn’t stopped.

“If there’s a need to get the task force up and running again we can do that quite quickly and mobilize the officers to get that done but we are continually communicating with our law enforcement partners. We know that crime knows no borders and we continue to monitor what’s coming in from other countries, share that intelligence and put that action plan in place.”

However, a group that represents Ontario’s police chiefs says authorities can only do so much to slow gun violence.

Following last night’s shooting, Toronto Mayor John Tory repeated his call for a city-wide ban on handguns.

Toronto police chief Mark Saunders announced today that an 11-week project launched this summer in an effort to address the spike in gun crime has been renewed, though no new money has been allocated.