Floral tributes to shooting victims outside a condo building in Vaughan, Ont., on Dec. 20.Fakiha Baig/The Canadian Press
In the months leading up to a mass shooting at a Vaughan condominium Sunday evening, at least three of the residents sought out and killed by the gunman had filed complaints about his continuing campaign of harassment.
A total of five victims died in the shooting. In a news conference at police headquarters Tuesday, York Regional Police Chief Jim MacSween identified them as Rita Camilleri, 57; her partner, Vittorio Panza, 79; Russell Manock, 75; his wife, Helen Lorraine Manock, 71; and Naveed Dada, 59.
Ms. Camilleri and Mr. Dada were both sitting members of the building’s condo board. Mr. Manock was a former board member.
Rita Camilleri was one of the board members in the condo building where the Vaughan gunman lived.Supplied
A sixth victim, a 66-year-old woman, remains in hospital with serious injuries. Condo board president John Di Nino has said that she is his wife. “This is obviously a very difficult time for my family, and I would ask that our privacy be respected,” he said in a statement on Monday.
Police were dispatched to the condo at Jane Street and Rutherford Road around 7:20 p.m. on Sunday, in response to reports of an active shooter and multiple victims.
When they arrived, police confronted the gunman and shot him in a hallway of the building, where he died. He has been identified as 73-year-old Francesco Villi, who lived in a first-floor unit in the building and was known for harassing neighbours and posting rants to social media about condo management.
Authorities told reporters on Monday that Mr. Villi had used a semi-automatic handgun in the shootings, but did not describe its model, how he got it or if it was legally registered.
At Tuesday’s news conference, the police chief did not answer any questions about the force’s investigation, and instead relayed some reflections from the families of the slain victims.
In the years leading up to the outburst of violence, Mr. Villi had been embroiled in litigation with the condo board, court records show. And the board, in turn, had been seeking judicial orders to stop him.
The case had been set to return to court Dec. 19 – the morning after the shooting. A judge stayed the hearing after learning Mr. Villi was dead.
Francesco Villi in one of his social-media videos where he commented on his feud with the condo building.Social media via REuters
As the investigation into the mass shooting continues, details of the victims’ lives and their past dealings with the gunman have begun to emerge.
Colleagues of Mr. Dada, who was a realtor with iPro Realty Ltd., were informed of his death in an inter-office memo Tuesday morning.
Roy Houshmand, an iPro broker and manager of the downtown Mississauga office where Mr. Dada worked, said Mr. Dada lived alone, but had said he had family living in Pakistan. “He was always smiling, always happy,” Mr. Houshmand said. “He was committed to what he was doing and it was important for him to be on the ‘right’ side more than anything else. Being just and fair was important to him.”
Tony Cutrone, a current condo board member who was not targeted in the shooting, described Mr. Dada as a “friendly guy, great sense of humour” who had lived in the building for a long time.
Vaughan City Councillor Marilyn Iafrate had tears in her eyes as she lay flowers for each of the victims outside the condo building Tuesday. She said she knew Ms. Camilleri and Mr. Panza. Ms. Iafrate told reporters she and condo residents had been calling and texting Ms. Camilleri, and were worried because no one had been able to reach the couple since the shooting. She would later learn that the pair had been shot and killed in their condo unit.
Ms. Iafrate said she frequently spoke with Ms. Camilleri through her work on city council, which includes advocacy for condo properties. She recalled being invited over to the condo by Ms. Camilleri to meet with residents. “She was so good at what she did, and it was always putting the residents of the building first,” Ms. Iafrate said.
Vittorio Panza, 79, was a realtor with a family connection to the Maple Leafs hockey team.Supplied
Mr. Panza – whom Chief MacSween described as a proud Italian immigrant who had been a well-respected realtor for more than 40 years – was the maternal grandfather of Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Victor Mete.
“The Toronto Maple Leafs are shocked and saddened by the tragic shooting that took place in Vaughan this past Sunday,” the team said in a statement Tuesday. “Our hearts go out to Victor and his family, to all the families and friends of those affected, and to the local community.”
Lloyd Hoffman, a long-time business associate and family friend of the Manocks, said the couple had been married more than 50 years and did everything together.
Mr. Manock had recently retired after a long career in accounting, he said, and was adored by his family and friends. And Ms. Manock, he added, was someone who would “make you feel like you were the most important person in the world.”
Mr. Hoffman was in Florida when he learned of the mass shooting, and he was stunned by the news. When he looked it up online, he didn’t need to see names – he immediately recognized the address and the references to the condo board dispute. His heart sank.
“It’s just horrendous,” he said. “These were very loving, very family-oriented people.”
Helen Lorraine Manock and her husband, Russell, were in their 70s.Courtesy of Lloyd Hoffman
According to court documents, Ms. Camilleri, Mr. and Mrs. Manock and Mr. Di Nino had each filed complaints against Mr. Villi.
In an affidavit, Mr. Di Nino said he had been harassed by Mr. Villi ever since joining the board in the summer of 2018.
“Mr. Villi says the Board is trying to poison him or kill him by refusing to fix problems with the electrical room beneath his unit,” Mr. Di Nino wrote. “These problems do not exist.”
This past April, Mr. Villi posted photos of Mr. Di Nino to Facebook, along with a text screed that called him a “Corrupt Criminal False Liar,” a “Manipulative Worthless Beast Without Dignity,” and a “Garbage Worm,” among other profanity-laced insults.
In June, Mr. Villi posted about Ms. Camilleri, whom Mr. Di Nino said in the affidavit was a “subject of constant ridicule and harassment” by Mr. Villi. The post, written in all caps, consisted of a similar torrent of invective.
In August, Mr. Manock – who had previously served as treasurer of the condo board – wrote an e-mail to the building’s property manager after Mr. Villi accosted his wife in an elevator.
Naveed Dada.Supplied
“At approximately 1:35pm yesterday my wife was on her way down the elevator proceeding to P2. The elevator stopped at ground level to pick up a resident. Mr. Villi was disposing of trash in the adjacent garage chute at that time. Mr. Villi turned and made direct eye contact with my wife, stared at her and called her a bastard,” Mr. Manock wrote.
Other residents in the building logged additional complaints, and so did security guards and other employees.
In his affidavit, Mr. Di Nino said a 2019 court order had done nothing to stop the harassment, and that the building had burned through five property managers and many security guards as a result.
“The Order was supposed to stop Mr. Villi from making these kinds of posts. It is upsetting that Mr. Villi is posting false and hurtful things about the Corporation’s directors (including me) and employees. He should not be allowed to make these posts,” Mr. Di Nino wrote.
“Nobody deserves to be harassed in their place of work or residence.”
With a report from Stephanie Chambers
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