“My daughter was a beautiful soul”: vigil tribute for victims of Sault Ste. Marie

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The Rain did not deter dozens of people from gathering in downtown Sault Ste. Marie Friday evening.

• Jean -Loup Doudard (View profile)Jean-Loup Doudard

A large crowd of people gathered in the rain Friday evening for a candlelight vigil in honor of the victims of the Sault Ste. Marie shootings in Northern Ontario.

A 44-year-old man killed an adult and three children on the night of Monday to Tuesday before taking his own life. This tragedy plunged the small town on the edge of the American border into a state of shock.

Relatives of the victims as well as saddened citizens gathered downtown Friday evening, under the bitter cold and the icy breeze from the Sainte-Marie River.

People sheltered the flickering flame of their candles under their coats and umbrellas as best they could.

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Brian Sweeney (under the umbrella) is the father of one of the victims, Angie Sweeney.

I can’t believe there are so many people [given] the weather,” says Catherine Lapointe. One of the missing, Angie Sweeney, was her daughter's best friend forever. She remembers a generous woman who dropped everything to help her neighbor.

I can't say that she was always first there, because that she was always late! she laughs. We called it "Angie time"!

Dancers in traditional clothing performed a dance during a ceremony organized by the Sault Ste. Marie Native Friendship Center. The beating of a drum circle echoed from the stage during speeches by the victims' relatives.

Angie's father, Brian Sweeney, spoke alongside her son, who held a photo of Angie in his hands. He rubbed his father's back while he spoke to the crowd.

My daughter was a beautiful soul. She had a very big heart.

A quote from Brian Sweeney, father of one of the victims

If someone needed something, she would drop everything for x27;help and take care of it until the end, he said. She was a generous and loving soul all her life.

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Brian Sweeney calls on the provincial government to declare an epidemic of domestic violence.

Brian Sweeney called for domestic violence to be declared an epidemic by the authorities. The killer had been the subject of domestic violence investigations, police confirmed on Wednesday.

The Sault-Sainte-Marie municipal council must also consider a resolution to this effect on Monday.

I will ask Mr. Ford [ the Prime Minister of Ontario, Editor's note] if he can find some time, because I would like to have a conversation with him and make some suggestions, said Brian Sweeney.

The Ontario government nevertheless refused last June to officially declare that domestic violence constitutes an epidemic, as recommended by a coroner's inquest into the deaths of three women murdered by the same ex-spouse in 2015.

According to information from Katie Nicholson, from CBC< /em> News

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