BUFFALO, N.Y. — Gang violence this summer has led to some of the deadliest months Buffalo has seen in the last decade.

"When gang members kill each other, that's unacceptable," said Gary Loeffert, FBI Special Agent in Charge for the Buffalo field office. "When we see innocent bystanders getting caught in the crossfire, it shocks the conscience."

The youngest of Buffalo's 36 homicide victims, Kyrie Johnson, was just 17 months old. He was killed with his grandmother on Grape Street in July. 

The longest period this summer without a homicide was 10 days.

That's why last week, officials from every federal agency in the area met with the Buffalo Police Commissioner and Mayor Byron Brown.

"We wanted to request additional federal resources from the government. We wanted to see if there were additional ways we could collaborate," said Brown.

Loeffert added, "Coming together collectively, it is unusual. I think it's a good thing. I think it's a good thing if we can more efficiently prioritize our efforts against the most violent threats facing this community. We should do that. We owe it to the citizens of this community. When you get several heads together, new ideas come out of that, new efficiencies. I think that's the idea."

More than 30 people attended the two-hour meeting in City Hall. The U.S. Attorney, U.S. Marshals, the FBI and Homeland Security were just a few of the federal agencies present. They say they're recommitting their resources to help fight the violence.

"The homicide detective being assigned not only to every homicide, but every shooting, they're being spread very thin," said J.P. Kennedy, U.S. Attorney.

Kennedy says his prosecutors are always working with the Erie County District Attorney's office to see which gun offenders can be charged federally, meaning a longer time behind bars. 

"These homicides are the results of on-going disputes between individuals in the community. So usually, the first time isn't a homicide," Kennedy said. "It's a shooting or shots fired. There's a response. And if we can nip that in the bud, and bring those people to justice, we can have, in addition to obviously solving the non-fatal shooting rate, we can drive down the homicide rate as well."

Loeffert added, "There's no silver bullet, but we have been very successful over the years. We've taken a lot of gang members off the streets. And we're going to continue."

All officials interviewed said the key to bringing all of their efforts together still lies in the hands of the community. They're urging anyone with information on any of the homicides to come forward.

"Any information is helpful. Even if it's non attributable, we can just get people pointed in the right direction. But if they don't say anything, it's never going to change. And if they're not willing to come forward, it's never going to change," said Kennedy.

Local and federal authorities say they continue to analyze crime data on where to target their efforts and say new initiatives that came up in the meeting should be announced soon.