Friends and a former co-worker are remembering two people killed in an early-morning shooting inside a Woodbridge café Wednesday.
It happened at Moka, an espresso and gelato bar near Highway 7 and Islington Avenue, at around 8:15 a.m.
Maria Voci, 47, and 24-year-old Christopher DeSimone, both of Vaughan, were pronounced dead at the scene. Voci worked at the cafe.
Two other men were also injured in the shooting. In an update provided by police Wednesday afternoon, one victim was said to be in life-threatening condition, the other in stable condition.
Speaking with CP24 Wednesday night, a family friend of Voci described her death as ‘a tragedy.’
“She lived for today," Rose Castoro said of the mother of three boys. "She loved life, she loved her family, she loved her boys. She was just a great person inside and out.”
“I actually came here for dinner tonight,” Sonya Soparker, another friend, said outside Voci’s house. “I had no idea this had happened. I was at work all day.”
Soparker said she received news of her friend’s death after phoning one of Voci’s sons.
“Maria was the most amazing person you’d ever meet,” she said. “She was my best friend. She just loved life. She had time for everyone.”
Castoro described the fatal shooting as ‘disgusting.’
“I think it was a coward that went in there and started shooting, and just took innocent people out,” she said. “There’s no other reason.”
A former co-worker described DeSimone as a funny guy who always made others laugh.
“He was such a nice guy,” said Suhail Farkho, who worked with DeSimone at the DiVinci Banquet Hall on Highway 7. “We had so many great times together.”
Earlier Wednesday, police said they were looking for a darker-skinned male who fled the scene in a compact, dark-coloured car, last seen travelling southbound on Islington Avenue.
No additional suspect details have since been provided by investigators.
York Regional Police Const. Andy Pattenden told reporters that authorities don't believe the public is in danger but said it's too early to determine if the victims were targeted.
He said the exact sequence of events was unclear but it appears a man arrived at the cafe and began shooting.
When asked if the incident is in any way connected to organized crime, Pattenden replied, "It is way too early in the investigation to be tying anything to that."
Investigators are asking anyone who may have witnessed the incident to contact police.
This is the fourth fatal daylight shooting in Woodbridge in the past 14 months.
In April 2014, a shooting at Regina Sports Café, near Highway 7 and Martin Grove Road, left 57-year-old suspected mobster Carmine Verduci dead.
Less than a month later, one person was gunned down in a busy retail plaza at Colossus Drive and Weston Road. In June 2014, another man was killed in a double shooting outside a Vaughan café in the same area Verduci was killed.
