A family from the GTA was caught in the crossfire at a popular restaurant in Buffalo last week, where one employee was killed and another suffered serious injuries.
OPP Sgt. Kathy McCormack, her husband, Toronto police officer Rondi Craig, and their daughter were eating at Anchor Bar after a day of shopping.
McCormack and Craig, who were off-duty that evening, said they heard gunshots as they were finishing dinner around 7 p.m.
“It actually sounded like a pop to my right, like a popping noise. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop,” McCormack told CTV Toronto Friday afternoon in an interview alongside her husband.
“Both of us at the same time, we tackled our daughter,” Craig said. “Down to the ground we went. And then we just kind of both spread ourselves on top of her, pulled her in as close as we could.”
They waited on the ground as people screamed and cried.
When it seemed like the gunfire had ended, Craig said he noticed a victim covered in blood. The man shot was Freddie Dizon, a father of three, according to police in Buffalo.
Craig and McCormack said they helped the victim, who had been shot in the chest.
Craig said, “I plugged the hole, if you will, and then I applied pressure as much as I could.” McCormack ran to grab towels.
Despite their efforts, Dizon was later pronounced dead. Another employee was sent to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
No arrests have been made in connection with the case.
With files from Tamara Cherry
