Safety of neighbourhood questioned after weekend fatality

Minnesota Street was a place where you could leave your doors unlocked, but some residents say that changed after the weekend death of a 54-year-old-man.

Thunder Bay Police Service officers responded to a 911 call about an alleged break and enter and an assault at a south-side home around 12:30 a.m. Saturday. Paramedics rushed 54-year-old Robert Francis Topping to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre where he later succumbed to his injuries.

Barb Malcolm, 67, lived on Minnesota Street for years with her husband, John, before he passed away last December. Her husband often told her to lock the doors, but she said she was from a generation that didn’t believe it was necessary.

Since last weekend, Malcolm locks her doors.

Malcolm went to bed early Saturday night, but woke up when her dog started to bark just after midnight. She went to her bedroom window to see if she could see anything, but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

At 12:30 a.m. she said she heard a woman scream

"It was really terrified screaming," Malcolm said on Monday. "I got up again. My dog was going crazy."

Malcolm didn’t call the police because she thought the couple next door was having a fight. She went back to bed and didn’t give the matter another thought until the next morning when she spotted the police cars outside her neighbour’s house.

"It has always been pretty good in this neighbourhood," she said. "I never locked my doors. I just didn’t feel the need to lock my doors. My husband used to say ‘you’re crazy, you should lock the doors.’ He was right."

Malcolm didn’t know much about her neighbours other than they often entertained a few friends and had a couple of dogs. She got along fine with them and said she felt bad about what had happened.

"I think the sad thing is that someone went there to help and got killed," she said.

One resident, who didn’t feel comfortable giving tbnewswatch.com her name, lived in the area for five years. She said she used to feel safe in her neighbourhood but not anymore.
Lisa Ladoucuer, 35, has two sons, ages five- and 10-years-old. Despite the events over the weekend, she said she still had faith in her neighbourhood.

"It’s sad, we’re four houses down," she said. "It’s scary but it’s a good neighbourhood, just scary sometimes. I think every street has its problems. I wouldn’t leave this area."

Police charged 18-year-old Nick Andrew Webber and 19-year-old Sheldon Paul Ryan Wabason on Saturday with break and enter, and first-degree murder.

On Sunday police charged 18-year-old Cody Allister Thomspon and 20-year-old Christopher John Hawk with break and enter, and first-degree murder.

Thunder Bay Police Service spokesman Chris Adams said Topping’s injuries were not the result of a gunshot. He added that a post mortem had taken place in Thunder Bay, but the preliminary results probably wouldn’t be released until the case goes to trial.

"It’s important to realize that in this incident the break and enter, investigators believe, had been targeted," Adams said. "That home was picked for a purpose. There is obviously no way to predict (a homicide). The victim unfortunately arrived to provide assistance to the female that was in the residence. Unfortunately it ended very tragically."

All four men that are accused will appear in court on Wednesday.