

Chris Herhalt and Chris Fox, CP24.com





The head of the union representing Toronto police officers is expressing concern over the spike in the number of shootings in Toronto so far this year.

Toronto Police Association President Mike McCormack made the comment to CP24 on Thursday following the release of up-to-date statistics showing that number of people injured by shootings in the City of Toronto thus far in 2015 is already close to double the number of people injured to this point in 2014.

“We are very concerned with the increase in shootings and violent crime that we have seen this year,” McCormack said. “It is up 88 per cent and we are not even halfway through the summer.”

As of July 15 of this year, Toronto police say 76 people had been injured in shootings, compared with 40 to the same point last year.

The number of shootings reported to police where no one was injured is also up a whopping 714 per cent over 2014, surging from 14 incidents in the first seven and a half months of 2014 to 114 incidents thus far in 2015.

Meanwhile, the total number of fatal shootings so far this year stands at 12 compared to 13 at this point last year.

Overall, the number of shooting occurrences so far in 2015 is 50 per cent higher than the number of shooting incidents recorded to the same point in 2014.

“We are having an increase in incidents where people are shooting guns in the air and we are finding shell casings where people are shooting guns and hitting a building or a car that is parked. There have also obviously been some tragic incidents, most recently the 14 year old girl (Lecent Ross) in Rexdale, and every time those sorts of things happen they are a huge concern for us so we are taking it very seriously,” Deputy Chief Peter Sloly told CP24 on Thursday. “Even gunplay where there is no victim involved is going to be addressed.”

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