Late this past Wednesday night, the walls and windows of this Chomedey day care were hit with stray bullets intended for a man sitting in a car nearby. The attack was reported by Laval Police as the eighth such incident linked to street-gang activity in Laval since June 11, 2007.
(Photos: Martin Alarie)
Eight gunfire incidents linked to street gangs in less than two months
Latest discharge penetrates wall and windows of Laval day care centre
No less than eight incidents of gunfire linked to street gang activity have occurred in Laval since June 11, in Chomedey, Pont-Viau, and Saint-François.
The latest incident took place this past Wednesday, at around 11:30 pm, on 74th Avenue in Chomedey. A man in his car was the target of an armed attack that saw several stray bullets land in the walls and windows of a nearby day-care facility.
"We’ve never seen as many incidents of gunfire in such a short period of time," explained Laval Police spokesperson Nathalie Lorrain. "It looks like the clean-up of criminals in Montreal has driven some of them here (to Laval)," she added.
In all eight cases, four of which caused injury, none of the victims collaborated with police, and all had connections with street gangs.
Concerned about the sudden expansion of street gang activity in its jurisdiction, the Laval Police Department has responded with the creation of a special squad to work full time on criminal activities related to street gangs.
"We're not just talking of sensitization here, we're also referring to repressive measures (to counter the criminal activities)," Mrs. Lorrain specified.
In addition to police agents, the new team will include legal experts (criminal activities investigators and prosecutors) as well as members of the community.
Photo: day, day 1
(Photos: Martin Alarie)
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