Montreal parents Raquel Ohnona Look and Alain Haim Look hold photos of their son, Alexandre Look, 33, who died in an attack on Israel. (Paula Dayan-Perez/CBC)
Montreal mom Raquel Ohnona Look was on a video call with her son while he was attempting to evade Hamas gunmen on Saturday.
She could hear young women screaming and crying in the background. She told her son to listen to Israeli authorities. She told him to hide.
“And then I heard him tell his friends, ‘They’re coming back. There’s a lot of them. And then all I heard was a lot of gunshots, lots of rounds and then we heard nothing,” she said.
She strained to listen with her husband. The couple then heard sound of people chanting: “Allahu Akbar,” an Arabic expression that roughly translates as “Allah is greatest,” and which can be heard in video recordings linked to Saturday’s carnage that have since been posted online.
“I knew,” Raquel Look recalled. “I said, ‘They’re killing my son as we speak.'”
Alexandre Look, 33, was among thousands in attendance at an outdoor techno music festival near the Gaza-Israel border on Saturday when it was attacked by the militant group, his family told CBC News in their Montreal home.
About 260 bodies were removed from the festival following the ambush.
Fighting between Hamas and the Israeli military continues in Gaza this week, and Canada has joined other countries in condemning the violence and warning citizens in the region to take precautions.
Mom of Canadian killed in Hamas attack recounts harrowing final phone call
Warning: This video contains distressing details. Montreal’s Alexandre Look was among the hundreds killed when Hamas gunmen attacked an outdoor music festival near the Gaza-Israel border on Saturday. His mother, Raquel Ohnona Look, describes the final video call he made to her while he was sheltering in a bunker.
He died protecting others, survivors say
Alain Haim Look, Alex’s father, said the family is still waiting for the Israeli government to confirm his son’s death, and that they’re trying to get his body home.
Some 30 people took shelter in a bunker with Alex, and two of the survivors have since communicated with Alex’s parents in video recordings that have been reviewed by CBC News.
The bunker was designed to protect against rockets, but had no door. So he shielded them, the survivors recounted, barricading the entrance with his own body.
“He was our shield. I swear to you, he was our shield. If it wasn’t for him, all 30 of us in there would be dead,” a woman in the video recording tells Look’s parents. Another woman in the recording said she had seen Look’s body riddled with bullets after the shooting.
Alexandre Look pictured in one of several photos his father posted to Facebook announcing his death Saturday. (Alain Haim Look/Facebook)
Neither Israeli nor Canadian authorities have confirmed Look’s death. His parents are concerned his body may take time to identify after the explosions and shooting, delaying the Jewish tradition of mourning after burial.
“He was murdered saving people,” Raquel Look said.
On one hand, she’s proud of her son’s courage, but on the other, Raquel Looks said she wishes he could have been less of a hero and saved his own life.
Alex described as a ‘force of nature’
“Alex was a force of nature, endowed with a unique charisma and unparalleled generosity,” Alain Look wrote in a Facebook post announcing his son’s death Saturday, accompanied by several photos of the two together.
“Like a true warrior, he died like a hero, wanting to protect the people he was with.”
Raquel Look said her son, a Canadian citizen, had more recently been living in Cabo, Mexico, managing a cosmetic business he owned. With this being a slower time of year for his business, he was vacationing in Israel with friends. He had been there a couple months.
Raquel Ohnona Look described her son, Alexandre Look, left, as a people person. He always wanted to be surrounded by people, she said. (Submitted by the Look family)
She described her son as having a big heart, always surrounding himself with people since he was a little boy. He was generous, she said, and always helped others. Alain Look said his son was the type to give the shirt off his back or go hungry to ensure others had clothing and food.
Among those mourning Alex’s death is his younger sister, Kayla Look, who lives in Montreal. Raquel Look said her daughter is inconsolable and hasn’t come out of her room.
“I felt those gunshots,” Raquel Look said, recounting the horror of the last video call with her son. “They destroyed our life. We will never know the same happiness in our life again. They broke our family.”
Community comes together to help family
Devorah Shanowitz, program director and educator at the Chabad of Westmount, said there’s “a tremendous sense of shock and a deep sense of grieving” in the Jewish organization, which Look’s parents are a part of.
“They’re wonderful people, they’re kind, generous, positive,” she said in a phone interview with CBC News.
“I think what made this all the more shocking is that you just wouldn’t expect that something would happen like that when a kid is out just travelling, going to a concert.
“He was just a normal young man trying to enjoy a slice of life in a very normal way.”
The Chabad has created a fundraiser for the Look family as well as a campaign to spread acts of kindness in honour of the victim.
“We’re encouraging our community to bring light into this world, to fight with light,” Shanowitz said.
On Facebook, Chabad of Westmount wrote, “We join our brothers and sisters here in Westmount, and the world over in mourning the devastation that has befallen our people and our land.”
Global Affairs Canada has not confirmed Alex’s death, but said Sunday it is working to confirm reports of a Canadian who died and two others who are missing following the attacks.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
