Published Jun 30, 2023 • 4 minute read
Dallyanna Mwamba admits that, when the wind slams the back door of her house shut, she sometimes gets frightened, thinking the sound might be a gunshot.
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Dallyanna is 12 and lives in the Carlington/Caldwell area, where a pair of gun-related, but reportedly unconnected homicides occurred this week, claiming the lives of two men, one of them 47, the other just 19. Yet on Friday the youngster said news of the killings hadn’t made her any more anxious than usual.
“You get used to it,” she said.
Her mother, Katrina Wright, and grandmother, Trina Wright, the latter who lived in the neighbourhood for a couple of decades before moving, know better. Both, they said, can easily distinguish the sounds of gunshots from those of backfiring vehicles or fireworks. But they agree with Dallyanna that it’s easy to become inured to the violence.
“Caldwell will always be Caldwell,” Trina said. “It’s never going to change.”
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One woman who asked not to be identified said many residents in the area, like Dallyanna, have become “desensitized” to events like this week’s.
“If there’s a shooting in Orléans, people go inside their homes and lock the door,” she said. “When there’s a shooting here, people go outside to it to see what’s going on.”
That sort of resignation was among the emotions neighbours reported feeling Friday, along with measures of surprise, sadness and fear.
“The community is still looking for information about what happened,” said Susan Hopkinson, acting executive director of the Caldwell Family Centre. “That lack of information causes worry and speculation.
“But this is a very close-knit community,” Hopkinson added. “Through the Caldwell Family Centre and other social services, people get to know each other more in this community than normal, and I think people care about their neighbours and support each other quite a bit. I think they’re saddened and dismayed to hear that this young person has lost their life. People really do feel that as a community. This is a lost community member.”
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Ottawa police on Friday identified the victim of Thursday night’s Caldwell Avenue shooting as 19-year-old Zachary Tiglik. They had no suspect description.
Michael Quattrocchi, 47, was killed Wednesday morning on Raven Avenue, just a few blocks north of Caldwell.
On Friday morning, River Ward Coun. Riley Brockington, who represents the Carlington neighbourhood, expressed condolences and concerns.
“Like many in the community, I’m shocked to have learned not just of the Raven Avenue shooting on Wednesday, but now (Thursday) night on Caldwell Avenue,” Brockington said.
“I’m very disappointed when this happens, and obviously very concerned for the safety of residents who live in the neighbourhood. And, obviously, my condolences go out to the families of these two victims. It should never have happened.”
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Nadine Akimana, who lives in a high-rise apartment building on Caldwell Avenue, was in a play area Friday with her five-year-old son, King. “When this happens near your house, you can’t feel safe,” she said.
Another Caldwell Avenue resident, Abdul Hamid, also felt unsafe, adding, as did Akimana, that measures ought to be taken to get guns off the streets. “We have to go to the root of the issue,” Hamid said. “We have to get rid of guns, except for police and the army. Civilians don’t need guns.”
But that’s just one possible solution proposed by residents. Some would like to see an expansion of the Neighbourhood Resource Team (NRT) program that the Ottawa Police Service started in 2019 in three neighbourhoods, including Carlington/Caldwell. That program aims to build community relationships and develop public safety initiatives. Many residents applaud the initiative, saying it has helped. Others, though, view it as simply public relations. “The only time I see police is when they’re trying to look good and go play basketball with the kids,” Trina Wright said.
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One person who was not authorized to speak publicly said there should be more police patrols to serve as deterrents to would-be criminals.
Another resident, Dofa Hashi, says Ottawa Community Housing needs to step up the security it provides in the neighbourhood. “It used to be good,” Hashi said. “They used to do rounds at night, checking in at doors. But now, when something happens, they stay inside.”
Other residents, however, said they didn’t feel particularly unsafe in the neighbourhood, although they worried for their children.
“It’s scary, but not particularly alarming,” Barry Jodoin said. “This is a wake-up call.
“Things happen,“ he added,” but I’m not going to put a lock on everything.”
Nonetheless, Jodoin said he accompanied his three children any time they wanted to walk to the nearby Quickie convenience store, even with two of them old enough to go on their own.
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Mark Wolynetz, who has lived on Edgecliffe Avenue for 46 years, thinks simply being aware is key. He likes to walk a lot, but doesn’t, for example, take the stairs down towards Raven Avenue at night. “It’s isolated. What I’ve learned over the years is to be vigilant, to be aware of people that are near me.
“I’m Jewish,” he added, tipping his baseball cap to reveal a yarmulke underneath. “And I’m visible. So I’m more worried about anti-semitism.”
But, like many residents in the area, Wolynetz hasn’t experienced first-hand the sort of violence like this week’s incidents.
“I’ve seen acts of kindness here, too, where, you know, where somebody’s not been well and people congregate around and phone 911,” Wolynetz said.
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