Grieving families gathered today at funerals for Reese Fallon and Julianna Kozis, the two young women killed in a mass shooting in Toronto’s Greektown neighbourhood.
A service for 10-year-old Kozis was held at a Greek Orthodox church in Markham, while 18-year-old Fallon was laid to rest in Scarborough.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Toronto Mayor John Tory and Deputy Premier Christine Elliott were among those who gathered to pay their respects to Fallon and her family. A large police presence could be seen around the perimeter of the private funeral while mourners hugged and wiped away tears.
Fallon was celebrating a friend’s birthday on Danforth Avenue when the gunman opened fire on pedestrians and restaurant-goers.
On Sunday, one week after a gunman opened fire on pedestrians on Danforth Avenue, thousands gathered at a public visitation to remember Fallon for how she lived, not how she died.
The famed Andy Warhol quote, “I think everybody should like everybody,” was printed on the back of memorial cards offered to mourners.
In an obituary posted online by the funeral home, her family said the teen will be “deeply missed but not forgotten.”
“She loved her Loblaws work family dearly, her Malvern Collegiate friends and last but not least she adored her Young Liberals family and all of its members who embraced and loved the strong and sassy girl she was,” the obituary reads.
“As Reese would often like to say, ‘Peace Out.’”
Fallon was a recent graduation at Malvern Collegiate and was due to start at McMaster University’s nursing program in the fall.
Her former teacher, Anthony Parisi, said she wanted to become a mental health nurse.
Following her death, a family friend created the Reese Fallon Legacy Scholarship in her honour. The money raised through a GoFundMe campaign will be distributed annually to a Malvern Collegiate graduate who has been accepted into a nursing program.
It quickly surpassed its initial $5,000 goal and has since accumulated more than $58,000.
Julianna Kozis laid to rest
In Markham, the youngest victim of the July 22 shooting rampage was remembered.
Ten-year-old Kozis was a competitive swimmer with the Markham Syncro Club.
A spokesperson described her loss as “traumatic” for the club and its young members, many of whom were seen in tearful embraces at a vigil for the victims on Wednesday.
One of her neighbours described the 10-year-old as a “lovely little girl who radiated a lot of beautiful energy.”
Trudeau later paid a visit to the Danforth Avenue parkette that has become the centre of tributes and commemorations for the lives lost and impacted on that warm summer night.
As he laid a bouquet of flowers at the site, Trudeau told the crowd that seeing the many teens at Fallon’s funeral reminded him of the service held for his brother Michel, who died in 1998 at age 23.
“Seeing the young people there in that room who were so much like Michel’s friends twenty years ago… I just wanted to tell them that they were going to be remembering and celebrating Reese throughout their lives,” Trudeau said.
"There was one lesson I learnt and it was reinforced for me this morning… It was that so many young people like her are both optimistic and realistic. Optimistic, knowing that the world can be and will be a better place, but realistic knowing that young people need to roll up their sleeves and get involved and be a part of shaping that better world.”
Trudeau went on to address growing calls for stricter handgun laws.
Last week, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the federal government had been looking into changes to Criminal Code handgun provisions long before the tragedy on The Danforth but warned that the process was complicated.
“People need to be safe and we need to take the right measures to do that,” Trudeau said.
“We’re looking at things that have been done around the world, things that have been done in other jurisdictions, looking at the best evidence, the best data to make the right decisions (and) to make sure that we are ensuring that our citizens and our communities are safe into the future.”
While both funerals were private, a makeshift memorial on Danforth Avenue continues to grow.
Trudeau paid a visit the parkette after Fallon’s funeral. He laid a bouquet of flowers at the site and urged mourners to never forget the young lives lost.
According to a source, the gunman, identified as Faisal Hussain, shot himself after exchanging fire with officers.
Though he had no criminal record, Hussain had been previously questioned by police under the Mental Health Act.
His family said in a statement that the 29-year-old struggled with “severe mental health challenges” and that therapy and medication were unsuccessful.
Toronto police and the province’s police watchdog are both investigating the case separately.
With files from the Canadian Press
