Adam Karam-Benton was in the backyard of his house on Glenforest Street in Oshawa, Ont., on Saturday preparing for his daughter’s birthday party when he heard six to eight gunshots.
Karam-Benton said that, shaken by the noise, he stayed put for three to four minutes, then went out to the street to survey the scene. It’s then he saw the basement tenant from the house next door sitting on the curb.
“I went up to him and I was like, ‘Hey, bro, did you hear that? It sounded like gunshots.’ And he kind of shook his head and maybe about 10 seconds later, he’s like, ‘You might want to get out of here.'”
Then, Karam-Benton said, a police cruiser pulled up to his driveway.
Police had been called to the area around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, officers said, after reports of a shooting.
At one home on Glenforest Street, they found a 42-year-old man suffering from gunshot wounds. Police said they then went to a second address on the same street, where a 42-year-old woman had been shot dead.
A 30-year-old man was arrested at the second home “without incident” on Saturday, police said.
That arrest is what Karam-Benton believes he saw, telling Global News his neighbour appeared to be taken away by officers.
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“(I) had asked, ‘Why do you have your hands up?’ and he said: ‘It was me,'” Karam-Benton said, describing the interaction he had on Saturday.
“In that moment I’m on the phone kind of looking at him in shock like, ‘What happened, buddy?'”
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On Sunday, police identified the accused as 30-year-old Mark Gordon and charged him with two counts of first-degree murder. Neither charge has been proven in court.
The victims were named as 42-year-old Patrick Montgomery and 42-year-old Andrieana Montgomery.
Karem-Benton shared video footage with Global News he had recorded that appears to show his basement neighbour — whom he said he knew as Mark — being put in the back of a police vehicle. He said Mark had lived in the basement apartment with his girlfriend and their little boy.
Karam-Benton said at first he thought the neighbour was joking when he had his hands up but later realized the upstairs tenant, Andrieana Montgomery, had been shot and later died. He later learned Montgomery’s ex-husband Patrick Montgomery, who was renting a house just two blocks down Glenforest Street, was also fatally shot.
Another witness who was doing manual labour at a house on the street around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday said he noticed two men arguing near the corner of Glenforest Street and Jane Avenue.
Ali Hakim said after 10 to 20 minutes, he heard three shots ring out. He said he saw the suspect return to his light blue Dodge Ram truck before he went back and shot the man seven to eight times in front of two kids who were standing on the street watching.
He said one of the children was jumping around the street while the other ran into the house.
Hakim said the gunman then got into his blue truck and slowly drove down Glenforest Street. He then saw the blue truck pull into a driveway south of the first shooting scene and less than a minute later, he said he heard seven or eight more shots. He said he called the police and reported the licence plate of the suspect vehicle.
Hakim said the scene was shocking, especially given that the kids witnessed what happened.
Friends of Andrieana’s came to the crime scene Monday to lay flowers in front of the home where Durham regional police forensic investigators continued to collect evidence.
“Andrieana and I have been best friends for 18 years — she was like a sister to me,” Lisa Feldcamp said, choking back tears. “All I can say is she was the most beautiful soul. She would do anything for anyone and this could not have happened to someone who did not deserve this. We were about to move her into her new home in about two weeks.”
Stephanie Des Lieres called Andrieana “an amazing mother and friend” and said she did not want to speak about issues she might have had with the basement tenant.
The Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board sent Global News a letter sent home to families with children at Bowmanville High School, where Andrieana had been an art teacher for the past five years.
“Ms. Montgomery was a dynamic and charismatic teacher whose profound influence on students and colleagues will serve them deeply for a lifetime,” wrote principal David Boone, who said flags at the school will be lowered to half-mast in her honour.
The Oshawa Generals hockey team also issued a statement on its website about Andrieana and Pat, who was a left-winger for the team from 1999 to 2002.
“It is always sad to hear of an alumni’s passing. This is more difficult with the tragic events surrounding the death of Pat Montgomery. With the loss of these two lives, our thoughts and prayers immediately go out to the remaining family members and children,” GM and vice-president Roger Hunt wrote on behalf of the Generals organization.
Gordon remains in custody and will return to court in Oshawa on July 22.
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