DEATH STALKS FAMILY
Man slain at seniors’ home was the brother of Eaton Centre victim,
Last June, Nisan Nirmalendran buried his 22-year-old brother, Nixon. He died nine days after being wounded in the Eaton Centre food court shooting.
On Thursday night, 21-year-old Nisan was himself gunned down in Cabbagetown.
Nisan was shot at a seniors’ home on Bleecker St., where an elderly woman was apparently used as a human shield in the violence.
“It’s an extremely fresh wound,” said lawyer Christopher Assie, who had represented Nixon on various charges, including those stemming from an attempted robbery.
“It’s an incredibly sad day when any young person loses their life, regardless of the circumstances.”
Police said there is nothing to suggest a link between the shootings.
“Obviously any time two members of a family are murdered, it causes concern for everyone,” Det. Sgt. Terry Browne told reporters. “But right now we have nothing to suggest the two incidents are related at all.”
Assie said the family emigrated from Sri Lanka when their three sons were young. They moved from Regent Park to Scarborough shortly before the first shooting.
On Friday, there were chalk outlines, believed to indicate where shell casings had landed, leading up to Winchester Square on Bleecker St.
The 14-storey seniors’ apartment building near Carlton and Sherbourne Sts. is owned and operated by Toronto Community Housing.
Glass in the lobby had been shattered by gunfire by the time police arrived at about 11:20 p.m.
Paramedics found Nirmalendran with several gunshot wounds, including one to the chest. He was pronounced dead in hospital.
Surveillance video caught much of the violence. “It’s quite disturbing, what is captured,” Browne said.
He said an elderly woman was entering the building when gunfire erupted, blowing the doorway window out. The resident became trapped in the vestibule while the shooter and victim were confined in the same area, Browne said.
“The resident is used somewhat as a shield as the shooting is going on,” Browne said, adding she wasn’t physically injured.
He said there’s no suggestion Nirmalendran, who had some previous contact with police, was armed.
Two vehicles were seen leaving after the shooting. One is described as a Dodge minivan, the other a navy or dark Acura TL with shiny rims and tinted windows.
Nirmalendran was seen entering the building hours before with a man, who police are seeking as they try to understand what the two were doing at the seniors’ home.
They left together from a different door shortly before Nirmalendran was shot in the entranceway.
“We don’t know who he is, we don’t know what role, if any, he played in the shooting,” Browne said of the other man.
On Friday, police canvassed the area and spoke to residents.
“It sounded like a cannon,” said Peter, a 66-year-old resident who declined to give his last name. He said he heard seven shots from his 14th-floor apartment.