A Brampton teen who was fatally shot while trying to retrieve a lost cell phone is being remembered as an exceptional young man who graduated with honours from his high school.
Hundreds of people packed into St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Church in Brampton Monday for a service to remember Jeremy Ryan Cook.
The 18-year-old was fatally shot in a London, Ont. parking lot in the early hours of June 14 after using an app to track down a lost cellphone.
A confrontation with several men in a vehicle ensued, during which Cook grabbed on to the driver’s side door of the vehicle as it began to speed away and was fatally shot multiple times.
“In the midst of dealing with the painful loss of Jeremy, we’ve been strengthened by the tremendous outpouring of support and sympathy from so many people over the past week,” Maureen DiIorio, a family friend, said in a statement on behalf of the family. “It is clear to us that Jeremy made a profound impact in his short time with us. His legacy will live on through the memories and relationships that he developed with so many wonderful family and friends.”
The family thanked friends and strangers alike in the statement and requested privacy as they grieve for Cook. However DiIorio said they will be releasing a personal statement in the next few days through London police.
She also said a memorial fund has been set up in Cook’s honour through the crowdfunding site, GoFundMe.
Friends attending the funeral said Cook was a good, hard-working young man who was working to get a carpentry business off the ground.
“I was in most of his classes. He was just a great kid – so kind. I can’t believe this happened to him,” one classmate said outside the church.
Police have said that a Calgary man is wanted for second-degree murder in connection with Cook’s death. They are also investigating a second suspect and are appealing to a third man, believed to have exited the vehicle just prior to the incident, to come forward.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact London police.
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