Eaton Centre shooting: Victims recount terror, shock - Action News
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Toronto

Eaton Centre shooting: Victims recount terror, shock

Victims of the Eaton Centre shooting and their families described the terror and shock of the June 2012 killings as convicted murderer Christopher Husbands returned to a Toronto court for a sentencing hearing.

Sentencing hearing for gunman Christopher Husbands hears victim impact statements

Courtroom sketch showing a man looking on as a witness testifies behind him.
Christopher Husbands, 25, was found guilty last month of two counts of second-degree murder. He was also found guilty of five counts of aggravated assault and one count of criminal negligence causing bodily harm. (Pam Davies/CBC)

Victims of the Eaton Centre shooting and their families described the terror and shockof the June 2012 killingsas convicted murdererChristopher Husbands returned to a Toronto court for a sentencing hearing.

Two people were killed in the food court shooting Ahmed Hassan andNixon Nirmalendran and five bystanders were injured, including 13-year-old Connor Stevenson, who needed multiple brain surgeries and the removal of part of his skull to survive.

Husbands, 25,wasfound guilty last monthof two counts of second-degree murder.He was also found guilty of five counts of aggravated assault and one count of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.

Stevenson, now 15, talked about recovering from a stray bullet to the head.

"I have to live a little bit more cautiously," he said. "If I get another head injury, it would be a little bit worse than if anybody else had one."

His family was moreindicting.

I wish I wasat the Eaton Centre on June 2, 2012, at 6:30 p.m., so I could hold him.- AmranHassan, sister of victimAhmedHassan

"Christopher Husbands has inflicted a lifetime of pain onConnorand the other victims at the Eaton Centre," his father, Craig Stevenson, said in court.

His sister,Taylor Stevenson,was with him and his mother during the shooting.She said she hasn't been the same since.

"I always create the worst possible scenario in my head because one of the worst things had happened to us," she said.

Connor Stevenson, speaking outside the courtroom, said he's just glad it's over. His mother, Jo-AnnFinney, told the court it would never be over for her, however.

"I'm left with feeling that can only been described as extreme fear," she said. "This terror has been with me ever since that. There's no safe place to go."

Othersalso spoke.

AmranHassan, whose brotherAhmedHassanwas killed that day, told the court:

"If I was granted one wish,I wish I wasat the Eaton Centre on June 2, 2012, at 6:30 p.m., so I could hold him."

With files from Michelle Cheung