Rocco Scavetta’s nephews Vito and Domenic Scavetta lived next door to their uncle growing up in Mississauga and are still trying to believe he was murdered over the weekend inside the flea market on Old Weston Road that he loved.
“It’s a bad nightmare. I feel like we’re all just waiting to wake up,” said Domenic, adding Rocco was like a father.
It was after 3:30 p.m. on Saturday when Rocco was shot to death inside the Toronto Weston Flea Market he had owned for more than a decade. His nephews said their uncle loved his business and being around his customers, but that he was stressed because he always worried about others and not himself.
Video surveillance they have viewed from the flea market supports that claim. The video they said shows a young man wearing a hoodie, carrying a sawed off rifle, threatening and making demands from a woman at a counter selling jewelry.
READ MORE: Man dead and suspect in custody after west-end Toronto shooting, police say
“There’s no audio on the video, but by the looks of it, she refused because he (the suspect) started to get angry,” said Vito.
“He started to attempt to smash the jewelry counter with the firearm but that didn’t work and then you see my uncle coming down the aisle, behind him and then he (the suspect) noticed him and turned the firearm towards my uncle, and back towards the clerk, and back to him, and back to the clerk, almost like he didn’t know which way to aim it.”
The nephews said the video then shows Rocco trying to disarm the suspect unsuccessfully. They said it appeared he tried to talk the suspect down, and then Rocco tries to disarm the suspect again. But this time, the gunman fires at his uncle. Police said he was pronounced dead at the scene.
“It was very hard to watch. The image is ingrained in my head,” said Vito.
“It just plays in my mind, all night, and that’s all I think about — all day,” said Domenic.
Police arrested a 16-year-old boy a short time later and charged him with second-degree murder, unauthorized possession of a firearm, and robbery with a firearm. His identity is protected by the Youth Criminal Justice Act. But the family said they can’t stop thinking about how a teenager could get a sawed off rifle.
Domenic said he is shocked somebody so young could allegedly take a life, “a good man’s life.”
The nephews describe Rocco Scavetta as a compassionate man who would employ those with disabilities and with special needs.
“He gave people opportunities. Even today, they’re still working there,” said Domenic.
Rocco was also empathetic those less fortunate. His family said when someone would come in and try to steal fruit from a fruit vendor out front, he would give money to the vendor and say let them go.
“He would give the vendor $20 and say let them eat. Some people would be like, ‘I have kids, I can’t afford it — that’s why I’m stealing,’ and he would say, ‘How many kids do you have? Here’s the $20, take the food,” explained Domenic.
Rocco’s nephews wonder if perhaps their uncle did not think the suspect was serious, know it was a real gun, or believe that it was loaded.
“That’s the one question that we’ll never get answered is why he decided to take matters into his own hands,” said Vito.
“He didn’t have to prove he was a hero on Saturday because to everybody in the community, and to his family, he was a hero,” said Domenic.