Community mourns Ottawa mass killing victims at Saturday vigil

Funerals will be held later this coming week and the Sri Lankan High Commission is working to expedite travel for family members coming to Ottawa.

Published Mar 09, 2024 • Last updated 4 minutes ago • 4 minute read

Community members gathered in Palmadeo Park in Barrhaven on Saturday morning for a vigil to pay tribute to the six people who were killed in a nearby home late Wednesday. Photo by Ashley Fraser /Postmedia

“We will miss you, Inuka. Love your Gr. 2 friends.”

On a cold, rainy Saturday morning filled with grief, tears and disbelief, the hand-made card from seven-year-old Inuka Wickramasinghe’s classmates at Monsignor Paul Baxter Catholic School spelled out a community’s sorrow.

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In colourful letters that soon began to drip away with the raindrops, the children shared their memories. “Fast. Kind. Intelligent,” they wrote. “Imaginative. Good Friend. Soccer ‘payler.’ We will miss your smile.”

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Overcome with emotion, Inuka’s teacher wiped his tears, then set the card among a mountain of flowers, cards, stuffed animals and flickering candles that was the centrepiece of the vigil for Inuka, his mother, Darshani Dilanthika Ekanyake, sisters Ashwini, 4, Ranaya, 3, and Kelly, two months, and family friend Gamini Amarakoon, 40.

It was the worst mass killing in Ottawa’s living memory.

Classmates from seven-year-old Inuka Wickramasinghe at Monsignor Paul Baxter Catholic School shared their thoughts on a hand-made card at a vigil in Barrhaven on Saturday. Photo by Blair Crawford /ott

A block away, another mountain of flowers lay in front of the family’s home on Berrigan Drive, where a police officer in a cruiser still stood guard. The only survivor of the late Wednesday massacre, father Dhanushka Wickramasinghe, remained in hospital.

“He sees the strength. He sees that people are behind him. A gathering like this will only make him stronger,” said Naradha Kodituwakku, past-president of the Sri Lanka Canada Association and a director of the Hilda Jayewardenaramaya Buddhist Monastery, which the family attended.

Kodituwakku visited Dhanushka in hospital on Friday and said he was recovering from the cuts and other injuries he received in the attack, but remained in shock.

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Sri Lanka’s deputy high commissioner in Ottawa, Anzul Jhan, said the commission had been deluged with messages of compassion and support since Wednesday’s tragedy.

“This is only a small sample,” she said, referring to Saturday’s vigil. “People are reaching out to the high commission and the community, and we are overwhelmed with the outpouring.”

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Funerals will be held later this coming week and the high commission is working to expedite travel for family members coming to Ottawa from Sri Lanka, Jhan said.

Febrio De-Zoysa, a 19-year-old student from Sri Lanka who was living with the family, has been charged with six counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. He remained in custody and was scheduled to appear in court again by video on March 14.

More than 100 people attended Saturday’s vigil in Palmadeo Park, around the corner from the family’s Barrhaven home. Among them were Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, Police Chief Eric Stubbs and other senior officers, MPPs Lisa MacLeod and Joel Harden along with Barrhaven East Coun. Wilson Lo and a dozen other city councillors.

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“This shatters what you think of your community. It’s hard to recover from this,” Lo said. “A lot of people are reaching out to their neighbours.”

Many of those neighbours, from down the street and across the city, attended the vigil, too. Matt Hernberger was one, adding his own small bouquet to the offerings.

“It’s such a terribly sad occasion,” Hernberger said. “I want the family to know that there are more good people than bad people. Horrible things happen in this world. You just have to unite as a community to get through these things.”

Rupinder Nirman, another neighbour, closed his eyes and clasped his hands in prayer at the makeshift shrine.

“When I heard the news, I just couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I didn’t know them, but all I can pray for is that they are at peace.”

The Wickramasinghe family helped De-Zoysa celebrate his 19th birthday just days before the killings.

Police say De-Zoysa is the only suspect, alleging he used an “edged weapon” in the killings.

Ottawa Police Service Chief Eric Stubbs speaks to the media after Saturday’s vigil at Palmadeo Park. Photo by Ashley Fraser /Postmedia

Speaking to reporters after the vigil, Stubbs said police had released more information than they would normally do about such a case, and he urged people not to speculate about the crime.

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“When it’s something this impactful, there’s a large appetite to find out why and to get questions answered,” the chief said. “We wanted to be as open as we could without compromising the investigation.”

Forensic teams are still sifting through evidence in the house, he said.

“It’s a very, very difficult environment, as you can imagine. I’m very proud of (investigators). We have to do this right.”

Stubbs said he and other police representatives were at the vigil not only as police officers, but also as community members.

“There’s a lot of negativity and a lot of darkness with this, but I’m seeing positivity, too,” Stubbs said. “People coming together and being supporting each other. That’s so important and we’re seeing that here now.”

Community members gathered in Palmadeo Park on Saturday morning to pay tribute to the six victims of a mass killing in a Barrhaven home on Wednesday night. Photo by Ashley Fraser /Postmedia

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