Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders is asking for help from at least 100 people who were at a party on the weekend where a man was fatally shot.
Alexis Charles, 46, was shot and killed early Sunday morning, in an industrial area near Weston Road and Finch Avenue in North York.
Police say since the shooting not a single witness has come forward to speak with police.
“The evidence that we seem to have is there were over 100 people there at the time before the homicide occurred,” Saunders told CTV News Toronto on Monday.
“When the police arrived there was nobody there, and to date we haven’t had anyone call or assist with that.”
Alexis Charles, 46, died after a shooting on Saturday in North York. (Police handout)
The homicide comes a little more than a week after Saunders launched project Community Space, which aims to get more help from community in solving crimes.
The shooting wasn’t the only incident of gun violence over the weekend. On Saturday, two men were shot during the day near Leslie Street and Finch Avenue.
Also on Saturday, four people were hit in a hail of bullets near Glencairn Avenue and Marlee Avenue. Police have described that shooting as having all the earmarks of gang activity.
Saunders says that steering people away from a “high risk” lifestyle in a crucial part of solving the gun violence problem.
“Street gangs are predominantly responsible for all of the gun violence across the city,” Saunders said.
And while police say most of the shooting victims in the city are part of the gang subculture, Saunders is worried about innocent people getting caught up in the middle of a gang gun battle.
“These street gang members have no regard for the public,” Saunders said.
Police chief Mark Saunders speaks about gun violence in Toronto. (File)
“So they’ll shoot, and my biggest concern is that innocent people in the city could be put in the middle of that.”
Charles’ murder is the 41st homicide in Toronto in 2019. No arrests have been made and suspect descriptions have not been released.
Investigators have spent much of Monday canvassing the area for surveillance video, in the hopes of finding evidence that will help them catch a killer.
Federal government gives Ont. $54 million
Meanwhile, the federal government says it will give Ontario $54 million to fight illegal guns and gangs.
Crime Reduction Minister Bill Blair made the announcement today at Peel Regional Police headquarters in Mississauga, Ont.
The province says it will use the money to dedicate prosecutors to an "intensive firearms bail team" based in Peel Region, west of Toronto.
The cash will also be used to establish a guns and gangs fund in the Greater Toronto Area and the Greater Golden Horseshoe region for a number of policing projects.
A new guns and gangs team, made up of four assistant Crown attorneys working with Ottawa police, will also be established in Eastern Ontario.
The province says the funding will also help support victims of human trafficking.
According to Toronto Police statistics, there have been 285 shootings this year so far with 430 victims, which includes those killed and injured. That compares with 272 shootings at the same time last year, with 364 victims.
