Toronto police stumped by increase in gun violence this year

There has been a shooting nearly every night this week in Toronto, and police are at a loss to explain the spike in gun violence.

On Thursday night, two men were wounded in theKeeleStreet and Lawrence Avenue West area when a car was sprayed with gunfire.A 22-year-old remains in critical but stable condition, and a 21-year-old suffered life threatening injuries.

The shooting happened in the rear parking lot of an apartment building onFlamboroughDrive.

A garageowned by Ana Kirby's father was riddled with more than 20 bullet holes.

"It's shocking to see all these bullet holes," she told CBC News. "I'm thankful that he wasn't here or any of our family members were back here," Kirby said.

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The two shootings come as Toronto is experiencing a year of increased gun violence, up 35 per cent from last year. The number of victims has also increased, up by 80 per cent over last August, according to police statistics.

Deputy Chief PeterSlolycan't say why there have been so many shootings this year, adding that he's noticed anuptickin gun violence across the country.

"It's a concerning trend we're seeing this year,"Slolytold CBC News. "We've put extra resources on the street, we've got extra intelligence coming in, we have extra support from our communities."

But Mayor John Tory thinks he knows why the city is witnessing so much gun play.

"There's some level of gang activity involved," he said. "There is the illegal gun trade that continues to be a real problem especially when it comes to the Canada-U.S. border."

As concerned asSlolyis about the number of shootings, he says "we are still seeing, year after year, a reduction in overall crime and shooting incidents."

"We're in a difficulttime but we're going to get on top of this," he added. "Toronto is still the safest major urban centre in North America. We've had over 10 straight years of overall crime reduction, but every now and then we get a spike in crime. We're putting our best people on it."