Child’s death shakes up community
Parents on a suburban Toronto street agonized Wednesday over how to tell their children that one of their playmates had been killed in the Greektown shooting spree.
Julianna Kozis, 10, was out on Danforth Avenue with her family on Sunday night when she was caught in the hail of bullets fired by 29-year-old Faisal Hussain. Neighbours and friends said Julianna’s father Donny was among the 13 others injured in the attack. Two of the injured remained in critical condition.
The street around the family’s home on Penny Crescent in Markham, Ont., usually abuzz with children playing, was all but silent on Wednesday as residents processed the news that one of their own had died in the shooting that also killed 18-year-old Reese Fallon from Toronto.
One man who did not want to identify himself because he had yet to speak to the Kozis family said Julianna would often sit on her front lawn with other local children talking for hours.
The man said his wife was “a mess” after hearing the news and had taken the day off work.
The Markham Synchro Club said Julianna had been one of its artistic swimmers.
“Julianna was a beautiful, aspiring athlete who was in her third year in our sport,” the club said in a statement. “This is a traumatic event for many of us and we are committed to working through this in a thoughtful and responsive manner.”
One of Donny Kozis’ high school friends set up a GoFundMe page on Wednesday to raise money to support the family.