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.

Two people were killed in the food court shooting — Ahmed Hassan and Nixon 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, 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. 

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

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"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 more indicting. 

I wish I was at the Eaton Centre on June 2, 2012, at 6:30 p.m., so I could hold him.- Amran Hassan, sister of victim Ahmed Hassan

"Christopher Husbands has inflicted a lifetime of pain on Connor and 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-Ann Finney, 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."

Others also spoke. 

Amran Hassan, whose brother Ahmed Hassan was killed that day, told the court: 

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