About twenty people gathered in Laval on Saturday to support the family of young Hani Ouahdi, shot dead Thursday in the borough of Anjou, in Montreal. Among these members of the Algerian community, many demanded action to end the violence in the streets of the metropolis.
“Independent”, “generous”, “smiling”, an “angel”: the witticisms in memory of Hani Ouahdi burst out among the group of mourners gathered in front of the young man’s family home, Saturday evening, in Laval. There, friends and acquaintances braved the biting cold to offer their condolences and support to the Ouahdi family. A winter car shelter had even been transformed into a tent to welcome visitors.
The family estimates that nearly 300 people have taken turns since Friday, a tribute to the generous nature of the young man. The people present also welcomed The press with opening. They wanted to denounce the violence that rages in the metropolis. “It’s gangrene, a disease that is growing,” protested a friend of the family.
“We traveled thousands of kilometers to flee terrorism, to offer a better life to our children,” added Mustapha Ouahdi, father of the victim, with emotion. “Now we are burying our children …”
The dream of a new life
Hani Ouahdi, 20, had been living in Toronto for a few months. He had just returned to Montreal to help his mother, who was going to have eye surgery, said Ouahdi. The young man worked in security and planned to start university studies. He even had the project to get married, remembers his father, still in shock.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE OUAHDI FAMILY
Mustapha Ouahdi and his son, Hani, in downtown Montreal, in 2020
The family came from Algeria a dozen years ago. Mr. Ouahdi was a judge and his wife practiced medicine. In Canada, they wanted to give a new life to their three children: Hani and her twin sisters, aged 18.
The young man was not known to the police and had no criminal history. Recall that at the end of the day Thursday, he was shot while in a vehicle parked in the borough of Anjou, in Montreal. A teenager in the vehicle was also injured and fled the scene to seek refuge in a nearby convenience store. Hani Ouahdi succumbed to his injuries overnight Thursday to Friday, while the 17-year-old has survived and is in stable condition.
The police said they knew the latter, who collaborated in the investigation. People gathered at the Ouahdi family in Laval told The press that this teenager was not linked to criminal activity. He was known to the police because of a traffic violation, one of them argued.
No suspect had been arrested on Saturday in this case, and the investigation is still ongoing, said Jean-Pierre Brabant, spokesperson for the Montreal Police Department.
A passion for music
“He just wanted to make music and be happy,” told The press Tiffany, friend of Hani Ouahdi, who preferred to keep her last name silent. “She was a good person, always smiling, in a good mood. ”
The young rapper was rehearsing in a studio in Anjou, in the area where the murder took place, his father said. This is what could explain his presence there.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE OUAHDI FAMILY
Hani Ouahdi, when he was 17e birthday
Rap had been part of Hani Ouahdi’s life since he was 16. He was known by the artist name Dzairy, which means “Algerian” in Arabic. “He was talented, a lot of people loved him,” Tiffany said. “He was passionate about rap,” also testified another friend, Lina, who saw Hani the day before the murder. “This passion took up a lot of his time, and he was working hard on it,” she added.
According to Lina, Hani Ouahdi found himself “in the wrong place, at the wrong time”. “He was not involved in this kind of story [criminelles] and didn’t have that kind of dating, ”she said.
For Mustapha Ouahdi, the pain is still unreal: “It was my right arm. I feel like a bird with no more wings. I never imagined that, in life, my child would leave before me, he testifies. I want us to do something [contre cette violence]. I want my son to be last on the list. ”
With the collaboration of Mayssa Ferah, Coralie Laplante and Daniel Renaud, The press