Arrest made in Wednesday shooting

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This article was published 27/05/2010 (5618 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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WINNIPEG — WPS Chief Keith McCaskill says an arrest has been made in a shooting Wednesday night that injured two young girls in the West End.

Police were called to a home in the 500 block of Victor Street shortly after 6 p.m. on a report of shots fired. It’s believed the girls were hit when bullets were fired through a first-floor window.

A 10-year-old girl was struck in the leg, while an eight-year-old girl suffered superficial wounds from an apparent ricochet.

Today, McCaskill said a 14-year-old boy was in custody. He has not yet been officially charged.

McCaskill said the young victims were not the intended targets, adding "this was not a random act."

He refused to elaborate as the investigation is continuing.

"Thank God people are going to be OK," he said.

McCaskill said investigators believe Wednesday night’s shooting is not related to the fatal shooting Tuesday afternoon of a 16-year-old boy on Toronto Street.

McCaskill said there are plans to increase the presence of the force’s street crime unit, which has about 45 to 48 officers, in the West End area. The community support unit officers will also be deployed in the area on an increased basis.

The street crime unit was created from Operation Clean Sweep, a unit police began after the gang-related shooting of 17-year-old Phil Haiart in the West End in 2005.

McCaskill stressed that police work on clamping down on gangs stretches across the service, with units like sex crimes, organized crime and major crime also targeting gang members in relation to specific offences.