Brantford police set up task force to stop sudden rush of gun violence

There's been such a rash of gun violence in Brantfordthis year that police have set up a special task force to try to stop it.

There have been 16 gun-related incidents in the city since January, Brantford police say. Seven people have been shot, including one that's being investigated as a homicide. The most recent shooting was at 4:30 a.m. Wednesdayin the downtown core.

Geoff Nelson, chief of Brantford Police Service, saysa task force is "absolutely necessary."

"Elimination of gun violence in our city requires a properly resourced and specialized unit to focus its efforts exclusively on those individuals who pose a threat to the safety of our community," he said in a media release Friday.

"These individuals will have the full attention of the task force."

The incidents so far this year have ranged from arrests for possessinga sawed-off shotgun, to someone being shot through the window of a home. There have beenthree incidents wheresomeone fired a gun into ahome. Police have seized four loaded handguns and investigated eight shooting incidents.

Police say none of theseincidents were random. The people involved are "entrenched with criminal and high-risk lifestyles," investigatorssay. In most cases, the people involved knew each other.

Nelson worriesinnocent people will be hurt.

"This is not just a Toronto or Ottawa issue," he said. "Gun violence is an Ontario issue. The task force will not only focus on threats that exist within Brantford, it will work collaboratively with gun and gang task forces in other communities."

Meanwhile, Brantford police havearrested two people a 29-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman after a downtown shooting onApril 24. Both faces charges of aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, careless use of a firearm and discharging a firearm with the intent to endanger life.

In the case of the man, police say, he was holed up in a home Thursday and officers negotiated to get him out. Toronto police were already investigating him, the media release said.

The shooting happened in an alley behind a Dalhousie Street complex between Queen Street and King Street, police say. They found the victim a 23-year-old man in a different spot.

The task force can be contactedat519-756-0113 ext. 2853, or TaskForce@police.brantford.on.ca.