HALIFAX POLICE DETERMINED TO NIP VIOLENT FEUD IN THE BUD

HALIFAX -- Police are pouring unprecedented resources into a bid to
head off the resumption of a violent 30-year feud between two local
families. The city has been rattled this week by two shootings that
police confirmed yesterday are linked to a battle for control of an
area known as Spryfield, a long-standing turf war that has included
gunfire and firebombings.

"It appears the feud has begun again," Frank Beazley, Chief of Halifax
Regional Police, said yesterday. "[These are] the latest incidents in
a long-standing conflict between two families involved in the drug
trade."

Jimmy Melvin Sr. was shot at on Monday and an unidentified person
wounded Tuesday. The chief would not identify which group is suspected
in the attacks, but it is no secret locally that the Melvins have long
been at odds with the Marriott family.

Neither of the shootings this week was fatal but the more recent,
outside the region's largest hospital, left Chief Beazley
"horrified."

"I've put significant ... manpower into this investigation," he said
yesterday, speaking broadly about the feud. "I've deployed resources
to this investigation like no other investigation in the past."

The recent violence followed a period of calm in the neighbourhood and
erupted within days of Jimmy Melvin Jr. being freed. The 26-year-old
was released from custody Friday after two people recanted their
statements. With no prospect of a conviction, the Crown withdrew 15
charges related to a violent home invasion.

His father, who was shot at late Monday afternoon, was not hit by any
of the bullets. No arrests have been made in that attack.

Barely a day later a man in his 20s was hit once during a volley of
shots outside the IWK Health Centre in downtown Halifax. His
connection to Spryfield was made clear as paramedics revealed a large
tattoo while working on him, a witness told the local press.

The victim spent the night in hospital and a 17-year-old woman who had
been with him was arrested for possession of a firearm. She is not
thought to have been the attacker and there have been no other arrests.

Asked why violence targeting the Melvins would erupt so soon after one
of them left prison, Chief Beazley said he could not be sure what was
intended by their assailants.

"I can only assume, and this is only an assumption, that they see a
threat now that he's back on the street."

Most people in Spryfield, a gritty neighbourhood off the peninsula
that forms the core of Halifax, prefer not to talk about the feud has
plagued the area.

"Everyone I've talked to understands this is not their beef, this is
not their conflict," said Stephen Adams, deputy mayor of Halifax and
local councillor for the Spryfield area.