After strip-mall shooting, mother loses third child to gun violence

The scene were Jamal Roache, 26, was shot in the Keele Street and Sheppard Avenue area on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014.

When Jamal Roache, 26, was gunned down on Thursday night, it was the third time his mother lost a child to gun violence.

It was the fourth time the woman had lost a family member to bullets; over a decade earlier, her sister Audrey was shot dead.

Carol Roache had buried both her daughter, Chemere, and son, Yannick, in 2002 after two separate shootings.

Chemere Roache was just 18 when she was shot in the head while standing outside a nightclub with her boyfriend in March 2002. Four men were charged. Yannick Roache, who had carried Chemere’s casket at her funeral, was ambushed and killed nine months later -- on Christmas Eve of 2002.

At the time of Yannick’s death, Carol Roache appealed to the killers at a Toronto Police press conference. “For these two men who have done this to my son, there’s nowhere to run and there’s nowhere to hide,” she said.

Toronto Police made a similar plea on Saturday as they released a video with surveillance footage that shows the moment Jamal Roache was killed at a strip mall on Keele Street near Sheppard Avenue.

In the video, a dark Honda Civic is seen stalking Roache. A man jumps out of the passenger’s side of the car, unleashes a torrent of gunfire, and then runs back to the vehicle, which speeds off.

Police described one suspect as a man wearing a black and grey hoodie, dark shoes with white soles, and a toque. Race and age are unknown.

As he released the video, Det. Sgt. Steve Ryan described Jamal’s mother as “lovely,” and “heartbroken.”

On Sunday, Audette Shephard, from the local community group United Mothers Opposing Violence Everywhere, called Carol Roache’s loss is “devastating,” and appealed to politicians for action.

Shephard lost a son to gun violence in 2001.

“I truly hope that the new mayor who was just elected will work with the provincial government and try to do something to reach out and make a difference for our community,” she said. “It seems young men just feel so disenchanted with our society.”

In response, a representative for mayor-elect John Tory released a statement to CTV Toronto. It said Tory he will immediately push the federal government to stop the flow of illegal guns across borders, and will work to create more opportunities for young people.

With a report from CTV Toronto’s Ashley Rowe