Community town hall tackles shooting in Dartmouth that killed eight-year-old boy

NORTH PRESTON, N.S. — Community members of a Halifax suburb shared thoughts and concerns with RCMP at a town hall meeting on Tuesday evening about the recent fatal shooting of an eight-year-old boy.

North Preston resident Colter Simmonds says about 20 to 30 people gathered at the North Preston Community Centre to discuss how best to tackle violence in the area.

The meeting followed the death of Lee-Marion Cain, who was shot while sitting in a vehicle in nearby Dartmouth, N.S., last week.

Simmonds, who is a cousin of Cain's father, said in an interview Wednesday that community members also spoke to police about how they could help with the investigation into the boy's death.

Halifax police have said they are looking for two suspects in the shooting of Cain: two Black men who were in a burgundy SUV, possibly a Chevrolet, with tinted windows.

Investigators have said they did not believe the shooting to be random.

Simmonds said he hopes Tuesday's meeting and future gatherings will help get North Preston back to a “loving and caring” place.

“I just don’t want us to accept this as our norm,” he said. “I don’t want us to lose faith and to lose hope. I think our focus as a community needs to be on the young people growing up and providing them with opportunities and a better outlook on life.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 29, 2021.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version mistakenly said the shooting took place in North Preston.