The fam­i­lies of the men mur­dered in Gon­za­les on Sun­day are hop­ing that trou­bled youths who may be vul­ner­a­ble to gangs can re­ceive ad­di­tion­al pri­or­i­ty as part of re­newed ef­forts to fight crime.

The men—off-du­ty po­lice­man Davy Le Maitre, 32, Michael Ross, 24, and Josi­ah Mal­oney, 23, were on the cor­ner of Lange and Ju­bilee streets, Gon­za­les, on Sun­day af­ter­noon when a black Nis­san Almera drove near them.

Gun­men got out of the car and shot the trio, killing them as they tried to run away. Oth­er by­standers ran to safe­ty to avoid the at­tack­ers. A small child had been at the scene with adults just min­utes be­fore the shoot­ing oc­curred.