'He enjoyed helping people:' Family of man shot in Ontario condo say they are shocked

Naveed Dada enjoyed helping people.

That's why the 59-year-old joined the board of his Toronto-area condominium and worked to help residents resolve their issues, his nephew said ahead of a funeral planned for his uncle on Thursday.

Dada, two fellow board members and their spouses were killed Sunday when a 73-year-old man with a lengthy dispute with the condo board went on shooting rampage at the upscale highrise in Vaughan, Ont. Police eventually shot the gunman dead.

• Remembering the victims of the Vaughan mass shooting

Dada's nephew said his whole family has been devastated by what happened.

"Everybody's in a state of shock," Tabraiz Dada, 48, told The Canadian Press in an interview.

"He was a very social, outgoing person. He really enjoyed helping people. That was the reason he joined board."

Naveed Dada lived alone in his unit on the 16th floor of the building, his nephew said. His family learned of the tragedy after police reached out to Dada's friend in Pakistan, who informed relatives of what happened.

"It will take some time for us to recover," Tabraiz Dada said.

Naveed Dada was born in Karachi and was the youngest of eight siblings, his family said.

He helped his family run their leather and fur coat business before moving to the U.S. to study marketing in the 1980s, his nephew said.

Dada then moved to Toronto and began his own leather business in 1990, his nephew said. He also worked 10 years for a security firm and then got his real estate license, his nephew said.

Dada has been living in his condo for at least 10 years and was the only member of his family living in Canada, said his nephew, who flew from Orlando to Toronto to arrange his uncle's funeral.

"Other than me and my family, everyone else lives in Pakistan," he said.

Dada was very close to his 92-year-old mother, who lives in Pakistan, and was also very close to his father, who died in 2005, his nephew said.

"We talked once a month on the phone and it was mostly about his father and mother," he said about his uncle.

Dada's funeral was set to take place at a Mississauga, Ont., mosque and many of his friends were expected to attend, his nephew said.

In addition to Dada, police have said Rita Camilleri and her husband Vittorio Panza, and Russell Manock, and his wife Lorraine Manock, were also killed in the shooting.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 22, 2022.