POLICE PROBE LINK BETWEEN ASSAULT RIFLE, GANG WAR

City police are investigating if a military-style assault rifle seized
early Sunday, and the arrests of two people at the same time, are
connected to a brewing gang war in the city's West End over control of
the sale of crack cocaine.

Police put the weapon, a Colt nine-millimetre semi-automatic rifle, on
display yesterday, but released few details of the gang fight.

Police spokeswoman Const. Shelly Glover said a man was apparently
assaulted by armed men earlier Saturday at a suspected drug house, but
police are still investigating any connection to the assault rifle.

A source said that incident is related to an ongoing battle for the
control of the crack cocaine trade in the area.

He said the drug house had only been open for about a week selling
crack.

The masked intruders threatened the occupant, saying he should only be
selling crack supplied by them, the source said. Police were called to
the house near Sargent Avenue and Maryland Street minutes later, after
someone reported a man being shot. Officers arrived and only found the
victim had been beaten. No one was at the house yesterday.

Glover said the rifle, ammunition and a machete were seized by patrol
officers at about 5 a.m. when they spot-checked a car going down a
lane near McGee Street and Wellington Avenue without its headlights
on.

Glover said an officer noticed an ammunition clip -- a 30-round
high-capacity gun magazine -- on the floor of the car, which prompted
the search and seizure.

Omar Johnson, 25, and Olu Famakin, 22, remain in custody charged with
possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, being an occupant of a
motor vehicle knowing there was a firearm inside, possession of a
prohibited or restricted firearm and ammunition, possession of a
firearm with an altered serial number, unauthorized possession of a
firearm and careless use of a firearm, weapon and ammunition.

The street drug trade in the West End is largely run by two gangs,
with Portage Avenue supposedly being the dividing line. Violence rises
when one of these groups, or an independent dealer, ignores that boundary.

Several drive-by shootings and one slaying -- the Aug. 27, 2004,
shooting death of 14-year-old Sirak Okbazion -- have been tied to the
ongoing war. Two men and two male teenagers have been charged with
second-degree murder in Okbazion's death.