http://www.familiesagainstcrime.orgFaces of mourning:
Catherine Rolfsen, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, February 04, 2008
Widow and mother appeal for a change in tracking of known criminals
Catherine Rolfsen, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, February 04, 2008
SURREY - Friends and families of two bystanders killed during the largest gang slaying in B.C. history vowed Sunday not to let the deaths go in vain.
At an emotional memorial ceremony in Surrey for Chris Mohan, 22, and Ed Schellenberg, 55, speakers called for tougher sentencing and better tracking of known gangsters.
Police said the two were in the wrong place at the wrong time when they were killed Oct. 19 in Balmoral Towers at 9830 East Whalley Ring Rd. Also killed were four other men who had faced various drug and weapons charges.
Mohan lived on the same floor as the targeted apartment, while Schellenberg, a gas fireplace repairman, was on a service call to the building.
Beside a poster covered in photographs of her late son, Eileen Mohan shared her grief and frustration over the unsolved killing with the gathering of about 100 community members and politicians at Surrey's Bear Creek Park.
"I remember when the RCMP officer told me that Chris was among the dead," she said between sobs. "I didn't know what to do. I sat there shaking. My heart shook to know that my son was killed.
"I asked him, 'What happened, how did this happen?' They couldn't give me an answer. I know Chris left home, stepped out in the hallway, to head for his basketball game. What happened in the hallway was only described the next morning as execution-style killing with intent...
"My son wasn't a gangster. He wasn't a drug pusher. He was a very innocent, naive, big, tall, loving teddy bear."
Determined to prevent other innocent bystanders from getting caught in gang activity, Mohan said she wants to start a website to track gangsters, including their mug shots and criminal history, so neighbours can identify criminals in their midst.
"I really want to curb the freedom of these gangsters, so they don't roam around freely among us," she said. "If they are known to police, they should be known to us."
Mohan also voiced her support for Bill C-2, dubbed the Tackling Violent Crime Act, which would escalate mandatory sentences for serious firearms offences and provide more effective monitoring of dangerous offenders.
"We are outraged that something like this would happen to our families," added Steve Brown, Schellenberg's brother-in-law. "It represents a new and outrageous level of violence...We can't stand for it."
A friend of Mohan's from high school, Corey Rollins, said the spike in gang violence has led to "a trend of acceptance that's a problem in the Lower Mainland."
The killings of Mohan and Schellenberg were among several high-profile gang slayings in Metro Vancouver over the past year, which also included those at the Fortune Happiness restaurant in east Vancouver and the killing of gangster Ricardo Scarpino outside the Gotham Steakhouse in downtown Vancouver last month.
Scarpino's mother Dianne Monds attended Sunday's rally. "I'm here to give my condolences to the families and to all the people who've been affected by crime," she said.
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said more federal funding for anti-gang police resources and education is needed, as well as tougher sentencing for criminals.
"Kids are out there weighing, 'Do I go to work, do I walk the straight and narrow, or do I make the choice to have a life of crime because it pays more and there are no consequences?" Watts said.
Clip from
http://bc.ctv.ca/ Aired Feb 03 2007
(less info)
