There have been 11 seemingly random shootings on Ottawa streets since Nov. 1, including three on the weekend

With nearly a dozen shootings on city streets in the past month and a half, and with no arrests or charges so far, Acting Police Chief Charles Bordeleau said Monday the service was undertaking an intense, two-month “high-enforcement” campaign to clamp down on gang activity.

Speaking to the Ottawa Police Services Board, Bordeleau promised a “high-visibility” effort by a beefed-up guns and gangs section to determine who was doing the shooting and to arrest those responsible.

“Ottawa is still a very safe city, but there’s no question that, in the last month or so, we’ve had an increase in shooting,” Bordeleau said in a brief interview. “Some of the shootings that have taken place can be attributed to gangs. We’re targeting known gang members who are possibly linked to these shootings.”

There have been 11 seemingly random shootings on Ottawa streets since Nov. 1, including three on the weekend. Early Sunday morning, there was a shooting in at the Wal-Mart at 2210 Bank St. Similarly, police raced to the York Street area in the ByWard Market after reports of a shot being fired shortly after 2 a.m. on Friday, About three hours later, police received reports of gunshots in the area of Cedarwood Drive and Walkley Road.

In the latter incident, three men were seen fleeing the area in a silver-coloured car. When police arrived, they found a minivan on Cedarwood Drive with the windows shot out.

Bordeleau acknowledged that the motive for the shooting may involve rival gangs trying to intimidate each other. “I think there’s a bit of that, that’s what’s going on,” he said.

With this in mind, the police department is bolstering its guns and gangs unit and its Direct Action Response Team to focus on gang activity, identify suspects in the shootings and, hopefully, lay charges, Bordeleau said.

“Any shooting that takes place in our city, whether it’s targeted on not, is a concern for us. That’s why we’re taking it seriously and why we’re increasing enforcement and visibility.”

Since the shooting spree began, Ottawa-area hospitals have treated a number of victims of gunshot wounds. On the other hand, police have arrived at shooting sites around the city to find no one was hurt.

In a Nov. 24 shooting, police were called to Sandalwood Drive around 4: 30 a.m. after shots were fired into the back of the residence belonging to the family of a man who killed a Ledbury Banff Crips street gang member. Nawaf Al-Enzi, was convicted last year of the murder of Mohamed Zalal, 22. Members of the Al-Enzi family were in the house at the time of the shooting, but no one was injured.

Police officials have said they’ve found no overall pattern to the shootings. They have also been hampered by the seeming lack on witnesses and the apparent reluctance of even intended victims to talk.

“It’s very difficult when the evidence, the witnesses and the intended victims are providing limited information,” Staff Sgt. Mark Patterson, the officer in charge of the guns and gangs unit, said recently.

The unit has investigated nearly two dozen shootings this year.