Vaughan mayor urges residents not to ‘live in fear’ after 3 deadly shootings

cp24.com
By Chris Herhalt
April 1, 2017

Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua issued a statement Saturday evening urging the city’s 325,000 residents not to worry for their personal safety after three fatal shootings occurred last month.

“We understand the public’s concern over the senseless shootings, but we should not live in fear,” Bevilacqua said Saturday. “Despite these incidents, the City of Vaughan remains one of the safest cities in Canada. These terrible tragedies appear to be isolated and not intended for the larger community.”

Over the course of March, one woman and two men were shot dead in the city.

On March 14, 28-year-old Mila Barberi of Vaughan was shot as she sat in a car parked outside of a lighting business on Caster Avenue. She was pronounced dead in hospital a short time later.

Police later released surveillance camera footage of the masked gunman, and his getaway vehicle.

A 40-year-old man was also shot in that incident but suffered minor injuries and was discharged from hospital the next day.

Early in the morning on March 23, 26-year-old Laquan Lyew of Ajax was shot multiple times in his vehicle somewhere in the area of Highway 7 and Interchange Way. It is believed he drove away from the shooting scene in his vehicle and then struck a pole off of Highway 7 past Jane Street.

He was rushed to hospital but died of his injuries.

On March 31, 55-year-old Dominic Triumbari of Vaughan was shot multiple times in a parking lot outside a social club on Regina Road, near Highway 7 and Martin Grove Road.

He was pronounced dead on scene.

Bevilacqua said that residents should take comfort in the fact that none of the shootings appear at this point to be random in nature.

“These terrible tragedies appear to be isolated and not intended for the larger community.”

So far, no suspects have been named in any of the three incidents.

“I want to assure citizens of Vaughan that we are working closely with York Regional Police,” Bevilacqua said. “They have allocated significant resources to these investigations and will provide information as appropriate.”

Bevilacqua said York Regional Police have “our complete confidence” as they hunt for those responsible for the deadly incidents.