A 19-year-old Saskatoon woman shot to death a month ago may have died in connection with a gang war on the city's streets, CBC News has learned.

Charlotte Jolly was killed while walking with friends after midnight on Sept. 1.

Sources have told CBC that her friends were members of a street gang called the Cash Boys and they were ambushed by members of another gang called the Terror Squad.

Jolly, the mother of a two-year-old child, was killed on the street when she intervened. According to a witness, when a defiant Jolly asked if the other group intended on shooting a girl, someone shot her.

Det.-Sgt. Farley Maddaford, who's in charge of the Saskatoon street crimes unit, said he could not discuss specific gangs and their potential involvement in the Sept. 1 incident.

"I think that we have to be very careful ascribing specific crimes to individual groups until they're actually accused and found guilty of those crimes in court," he said.

More generally, there are many gangs operating in the city, with the drug trade behind much of their activities, he said.

"There are groups that are out there that are popular. Native Syndicate is one, and there's many, many of these groups that are active," he said. "The Cash Boys, Indian Posse, and there's many others that are out there and trying to promote themselves."

Police have made no arrests in Jolly's murder.