Canada

Toronto police say one of the city's most notorious street gangs was behind a string of homicides and shootings, including a mass summer shooting that left two people dead in the city's east end.

Det-Sgt. Brett Nicol told a news conference Tuesday that investigators have linked three killings and six shootings between Sept. 4, 2011 and Aug. 10, 2012 to the Galloway Boys gang.

Fourteen-year-old Shyanne Charles of Toronto and 23-year-old Joshua Yasay of Ajax were killed after gunmen opened fire at a block party on July 16 which was attended by about 200 people.

Twenty-three others were sent to hospital with gunshot wounds after what was called the worst mass shooting spree in Toronto's history.

Nicol says witnesses to the block party shooting have been reluctant to co-operate with police.

In a separate incident, D'Mitre Barnaby, 24, died of gunshot wounds on Dec. 30, 2011 in a shooting that Nicol said was a case of mistaken identity as Barnaby had no known gang affiliation.

The homicides all occurred in east-end Toronto in the area of Galloway Road, which is home to the Galloway Boys.

"The investigators believe that the conflict between the Galloway Boys and other neighbourhoods in the Scarborough area , in particular the Orton Park, is being fuelled by the Galloway Boys' propensity for violence, their ability to obtain guns and their willingness to seek revenge," Nicol said.