TORONTO — Smuggled handguns and gang warfare are fanning the flames of violence and endangering the lives of innocent people, police Chief Bill Blair said Thursday in the wake of a rash of gunplay that left a four-year-old boy among the injured.

The "extremely alarming'' shootings Wednesday night, which left one man dead and four other people injured, were the result of two gangs involved in a fierce turf war, Blair said as he announced plans for a special task force to tackle the problem of gang violence in the neighbourhood where the shootings occurred.

"There is an ongoing dispute between two different groups who are affiliated to urban gangs,'' said Blair, who refused to identify the gangs involved. "We are very concerned about the impact this violence has had on innocent people.''

Officers from other investigative departments will be moved to the city's problem neighbourhoods to prevent gun violence and crack down on the suspected gangs in the area, Blair said.

"We've been very active in the investigation of these gangs and we are adding more resources there because the level of violence has escalated,'' he said.

"When a child is so recklessly put at risk, it demands an overwhelming response from all of us.''  

The boy, who was shot twice in the leg, was at a Toronto hospital for observation Thursday but is expected to make a full recovery.

Craig Reid, 23, faces 58 separate charges, including eight counts of attempted murder.

During Wednesday's news conference, Blair acknowledged that one of the problems still at the root of gang warfare is the proliferation of firearms, primarily handguns, that are being illegally smuggled in large numbers across the Canada-U.S. border.

"Our investigations have revealed at least half of all the firearms in the city of Toronto are being illegally smuggled across our border from the United States.''

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty expressed his own distress with the sudden spike in gun violence and promised to raise the issue of "American guns on Canadian streets'' at a meeting next week with the U.S. ambassador in Banff, Alta.

"If we've come to the point in time where children are becoming victims of drive-by shootings, then something is fundamentally wrong,'' McGuinty said.

It's high time police, the province and Ottawa took a hard look at everything from the laws and sentences that currently govern gun-related crimes to the number of police officers on the streets of Canada's largest city, he added.

"It's something that calls for a concerted effort and a stronger effort, because clearly what we are doing at the present time is less than adequate.''

Blair said many of the guns end up in the hands of gangsters and can often lead to the violent bloodshed seen in the city over the last week.

During a 12-hour span last Saturday, a 21-year-old man was shot dead while standing in a crowded city square, a 46-year-old man was shot multiple times in his apartment, and a 26-year-old man was gunned down while waiting near a bank.

Toronto Mayor David Miller also spoke out against the shootings Thursday as he pledged that gang activity would not be tolerated.

"When (gangs are) firing guns near children in this city we're not going to stand for it,'' Miller said. "We have to get to the kids before they get involved in this gang culture.''

While overall gun-related deaths have been on the decline in Canada, recent Statistics Canada studies suggest two-thirds of gun deaths are now the result of handguns, up from about half during the 1990s.

Blair said McGuinty's Liberal government has indicated it will make funding available to the city in its battle against gun violence.

No arrests have yet been made in connection with the other shooting, which claimed the life of 25-year-old Giancarlo Savino and notched the city's 39th homicide so far this year.