BUFFALO, N.Y. — This year's youngest homicide victim was 17-month-old Kyrie Johnson. Police say he and his grandmother Yvette were not the intended targets when they were gunned down in early July on Grape Street. 

"The thing that's hitting home is the errant rounds that are hitting the unintended victims," said John Evans, prsident of the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association, the police department's union. 

Two men in the home were also hurt. Authorities say the home was targeted and the crime was gang-related.

"An insult on Facebook could lead to a murder or two," said Evans.

Just a few weeks later, there was another shooting at the same home. Those victims survived.

There have been 10 homicides this June and another nine in July, making them among the top six deadliest months in the last decade. Evans doesn't see any signs of the mayhem slowing.

"There's so much retribution,” he said. “And these shootings, they're all bang- bang-bang. They go back and forth.”

Caught in the crossfire are the innocent, like little Kyrie, who is one of 36 people killed in Buffalo this year.

Evans says while there has been an influx of violence this summer, overall, he expects the year to finish within the usual range of 40-50 homicides.

"There's always been a lot of shootings in Buffalo. If not for the miraculous work ECMC does as far as putting them back together, the medical help, there'd be more murders," said Evans.

Add to that dwindling resources, like money and new police officers on the street, and the problem grows. 

"I believe we're seriously under-funded,” Evans said. “There'd have to be an immense infusion of funds to the police department in order for them to actually go out and combat and make a dent in it.”

It’s affecting everything from getting their patrol cars fixed to the number of officers on the streets.

"Our department is down to 801 (officers) and even when I came on, I believe we were at 960. It's as low as it's ever been in my 17 years,” he said. “It's a money thing. They're constantly trying to cut and just have enough to skim to get by. It's maybe taking its toll.”

The department did just swear in 35 new recruits last week, but Evans says just as many people have already retired this year, and he expects many more to leave by the end of 2018.

"The city, obviously, they're not going to be able to keep up," said Evans.

Captain Jeff Rinaldo, the Buffalo Police Department's spokesperson, said, "I think it's enough to effectively do the job we have. We are always looking at our resources. We're always looking in terms of promotions, do we have an adequate number of supervisors, an adequate number detectives, patrol officers, as well as civilian staff. I can tell you we're constantly hiring. Every class we've had available to us from ECC, we've been filling with as many officers as we can possibly get into those classes. I think our manpower is where it should be."

Rinaldo said with the new community policing and outreach efforts, the officers are building relationships they hope will lead to more information about crimes in the city.

"The productivity is increasing among our officers. The community engagement is clearly increasing,” he said. “There's a lot of factors that go into policing. We could have a million police officers and there could still be a crime. So it's a matter of utilizing those resources and getting that feedback from our commanders out in the field, our investigators, our patrol officers, and putting together a program that works. Every single day, we have analysts that look at crimes, look at where things are occurring, look at how one crime is related to another, and we adjust our resources accordingly.”

Police say many of these crimes are gang-related and they're increasing directed patrols in areas with issues in an effort to get guns and gang members off the streets.

"Our commissioner has re-engaged a number of different officers from our Broadway Districts, Edward, Charlie districts reengage in the same mission that Strike Force was initially tasked with, which includes proactive policing, additional paroles and making arrests for drugs and gangs and guns," said Rinaldo.

Evans says since Commissioner Byron Lockwood came into the position in January, there have been some positive changes including more community policing and the creation of police units that spend more time with kids in the community to build that partnership.

"Give him a chance on this. It is very difficult from their side of manage. You can't just snap and put together a team. It takes some planning and this and that, but I would expect you'd see something coming along," said Evans.