Hundreds attend vigil for victims of shooting rampage in Sault Ste. Marie
CTV
Hundreds of flickering candles lit up the evening as residents of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., gathered for a vigil in memory of the victims of Monday's shooting rampage, with the father of one of the victims calling for respect for the family of the gunman, as well.
Hundreds of flickering candles lit up the evening as residents of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., gathered for a vigil in memory of the victims of Monday's shooting rampage, with the father of one of the victims calling for respect for the family of the gunman, as well.
Four people were killed, including three children, and a woman was injured at two different locations in the northern Ontario city before the shooter took his own life in what police have called a case of intimate partner violence.
Friday night saw community members come together, braving the wind and rain to grieve and comfort one another.
Police have not released the identities of those involved, but family members have identified one of the victims as 41-year-old Angie Sweeney, and the gunman as Bobbie Hallaert, said to be Sweeney's partner and the children's father.
Angie Sweeney's father, Brian Sweeney, thanked those attending for their support, calling his daughter a beautiful soul with a big heart that ultimately cost her her life.
As he addressed the crowd, he called up Hallaert's mother as the other half of his family, who suffered the same tragedy as him.
"She lost the same grandchildren I lost, she lost a child as I have lost a child, and yet for some reason people seem to think it's OK to look down on these people, and that does not sit well for me," Sweeney said, putting his arm around Marcia Gillespie.
