Many families worried by the recent shootings that hit the residential area where they live in broad daylight took part in a march on Saturday afternoon to demand an end to gun violence in their neighborhood, where the feeling of insecurity is palpable. .
“We wonder who will be the next”, launches the To have to Zaineb Raki, a mother who took part in this mobilization on Saturday with a young child, who was in a stroller. “We are here today to make it all stop,” she adds.
About fifty people first gathered around 1 p.m. in front of the Raymond-Fortin community center, located on Dumouchel Avenue, before starting an hour-long march through the streets of the residential area around 1:30 p.m.
The choice of the place to start this march was not insignificant: it was on the grounds of a building complex located on this same boulevard, very close to a primary school, that several shots were fired. Monday, May 9 around 2:30 p.m., shortly before the bell rings to signal the end of classes.
This event, which did not cause any injuries, caused concern in this family area, which includes a large green space where many children have fun every day.
“The shooting was near my house. It’s not easy, I’m worried about my children, sighs Salwa Abouelyzza, a mother who has lived in Laval for 10 years. We are scared. »
A situation that worries the Liberal MP for Laval-des-Rapides, Saul Polo, who took part in the organization of this march, called “Together for Peace”, with the Place Saint-Martin Working Committee. “What we say is that the key to the solution is prevention,” argues Mr. Polo, who deplores a certain “inequity” between the amounts released to suppress armed violence compared to those to prevent them, in particular by providing more funding to community organizations.
A succession of violent acts
In fact, three shootings in as many days occurred in Laval last month, from Sunday May 9 to Monday May 11. “We don’t want that, we want it to be peace, calm, no violence”, insists Brigitte Lacroix, met by The duty ahead of this march, in which several children took part accompanied by their parents.
“The different levels of government must move so that we can feel safe in our neighborhood,” claims the director general of the organization Loisirs Renaud-Coursol, Lucie Lanthier.
In particular, the latter considers that investments are necessary to develop new sports and community infrastructures, with a view to preventing violence. Other parents are calling for an increase in police presence in their neighborhood so that they feel safer there.
“We would like there to be more patrols circulating,” claims Zaineb Raki. That way, she believes, both she and her children would feel safer.