It appears a mob war may be heating up in York region.
Last night, three men were shot outside a sports bar. The 29-year-old Toronto man, 33-year-old Toronto man, and 47-year-old Toronto were all released from hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Last week, shots were fired in the parking lot of a restaurant that was filled with customers and a bullet struck a window. Thankfully, no one was injured.
A few weeks ago, a side wall of an alleged illegal gambling hall was blown off by an explosion. A 33-year-old man was found nearby with non-life threatening injuries, was taken to hospital and later arrested.
All three of these incidents happened in Woodbridge.
NEWSTALK 1010 public safety analyst Chris Lewis says it has the markings of conflict within the underbelly of organized crime.
He worries York Region Police will be left to predominantly fight this battle without much help from the RCMP. "The RCMP has been overwhelmed with the whole terrorism investigation front. They're not really equipped or have the resources to conduct a lot of these investigations. The outgoing commissioner just admitted that, himself, publicly."
Lewis says that back in the 90s when the region saw an uptick in mob violence, the Mounties were the lead investigators.
"You know York region is going to be on this, in relation to what has occurred. My problem is, or concern is, given the loss of the RCMP in all of this, how much is happening in a proactive basis to try and disrupt and dismantle organized crime groups like the Italian mob. You know, a significant player is almost missing entirely from those joint forces operations.
He says Criminal Intelligence Service Ontario and all major police forces in this province are sharing information on the major mob players but it still doesn't make up for the hole left by the RCMP.