Mom of 16-year-old murder victim seeks justice as frightened residents call for higher security

Safety concerns echoed after teen murdered Residents on Falstaff Avenue are continuing to push for higher security after a 16-year-old boy was fatally shot.

The family of 16-year-old Hanad Abdullahi wants justice after he was shot to death in the stairwell of his apartment building last week.

Residents of the trio of Falstaff Avenue apartment buildings where bullets are known to fly frequently – at least five times in the past five months – want to see security changes promised at a community meeting, called in response to the murder, actually happen.

After the meeting, Abdullahi’s mother Hodan Ali was emotional as she spoke about her son who had turned 16 in June.

“I always told him if you go outside (at night) somebody’s going to shoot you for no reason,” she said.

Hodan Ali is seen speaking about her son's death. (CTV News Toronto)

Ali said she heard the shots that killed her son, who she described as a good boy that always helped around the apartment.

But she said the fact that he was murdered so close to home leaves her feeling haunted.

“Every time I come out in my hallway, when I see the stairway, I feel something. My heart is bumping, it’s shaking.”

Police are seen investigating the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old boy on Falstaff Avenue. (CTV News Toronto)

Residents on Falstaff Avenue voiced their concerns following the murder, saying they have felt on edge lately.

Last Thursday’s stairwell shooting is one of several in the last few months.

Charon Browne walks past three bullet scars in the hallway that leads to her apartment. The bullets, which were fired into the wall back in April, lead into the unit she shares with her eight-year-old niece.

Charon Browne looks at three bullet holes in a wall at her apartment building. (CTV News Toronto / Nick Dixon)

Seven shots were fired in that incident and as far as Browne knows, no arrests have been made.

Browne said as things stand now, building security doesn’t give her a real sense of protection.

She said her calls go unanswered or when she gets through she is asked to see what is happening.

“They’re asking you, ‘do you see something?’ I said do you expect me to come outside look to see if I see something before you can do something? That’s not going to work.”

At Tuesday night’s community meeting, Toronto Community Housing Corporation promised to implement security changes by September. Full-time community safety officers are expected to patrol the area, better lighting will be installed outside the buildings and security cameras will be installed to capture licence plates of vehicles that drive onto the property.

A community meeting being held to address violence on Falstaff Avenue is seen. (CTV News Toronto)

Browne said she is hopeful, but skeptical.

“Because sometimes they say things but they don’t do it. This is what happens with community housing.”

Det. Sgt. Henri Marsman said on Wednesday the investigation into Abdullahi’s murder is, “progressing,” but so far no images of any possible suspects have been released.

CP24’s crime specialist and former Toronto police homicide detective Steve Ryan said, “as an investigator you always want to get that video out to the public as quickly as you can, because public safety is paramount.”

But, Ryan said there could be a couple of reasons as to why any photos or videos have not yet been released to the public. He said police could be working on enhancing it or they may not have any actual surveillance video at all.

Abdullahi’s family is calling for his killers to turn themselves in.

“They have to be a man,” his mother said. “Because they killed an innocent child they don’t know. And I don’t know the reason they killed.”