Prom night turned deadly early Saturday when a graduating Ottawa high school student was stabbed to death outside Les Suites Hotel on the dark edge of the ByWard Market.
Yellow crime scene tape marked the spot beneath the Simon Bolivar statute where 18-year-old St. Patrick’s High School student Brandon Volpi was fatally knifed in front of a throng of students around the hotel’s Besserer Street entrance about 3:30 a.m.
He was later pronounced dead at hospital, several hours after 150 St. Patrick’s students held a glittering prom at the National Arts Centre, leaving around 10:30 p.m. for long-anticipated parties and celebration. Separate prom-goers from at least one other city high school also were staying at the hotel for after-parties.
Volpi was a handsome, towering figure and member of the school’s wrestling and rugby teams, who also practised martial arts. Those who knew him say he viewed himself as a “big brother” and protector. Ironically, Volpi recently confided to a friend that he was going to the prom, “to make sure nothing goes wrong.”
It’s not clear yet whether his killing is linked to a rivalry between schools. Some students and others say the incident began when another male St. Patrick’s student was hit over the head with a bottle outside the hotel by someone in a pack of students from another school. Volpi apparently came out of the hotel to the injured student’s rescue and was attacked and killed. Some described the scene as a brawl involving two groups numbering about 10 students each.
Others speculated the slaying may have been connected to an unconfirmed story about a theft of cash from Volpi’s school locker and ensuing fight with another student, who was expelled.
Police are hunting for a male suspect. The urgent search for physical evidence concentrated late Saturday afternoon on the vacant, grassy site of the former Ottawa police headquarters on the southwest corner of Waller Street and Daly Avenue. A bloodied t-shirt was found there earlier in the day. More blood was discovered on a Waller Street bus shelter near Laurier Avenue. If related to the killing, the discoveries suggest the blood-splattered killer, possibly accompanied by several others, fled on foot from the hotel and south along Waller, discarding incriminating evidence as he ran
Volpi’s grieving father, Danny, manager of the BareFax strip club in the ByWard Market, posted a Facebook tribute to his son.
“To my dear son may you rest in peace. I miss you with all my heart. May justice be served and find who killed my son.
He then added two angry messages to the killer.
“To the coward who killed my son. Come try me. You picked the wrong family to f—with.
“So it took 20 of you f—-s to take my son out. Bunch of cowards,” he wrote in an apparent reference to a rival group of students.
Cousin Derrick Volpi described Brandon as “a good kid.”
“It wasn’t always easy, but he was a good kid in his heart,” Derrick Volpi said. “It’s tough right now.”
A second youth was taken to hospital, treated for minor injuries and released. His name has not been made public. It’s not clear whether he also was stabbed or hit with the bottle.
Passerby Robert Bedard came on the scene shortly after the stabbing.
“I seen a girl sitting on the sidewalk. She was crying,” he said. “A couple of girls came out from the bar and tried to help her.”
Bedard said it had been a rowdy night in and around the market, with a number of street fights.
Earlier in the evening he saw a group brawling outside the BareFax several blocks away on York Street and several people arrested. Police are not aware of any connection between that incident and Volpi’s killing.
The crime scene is just metres from the Studio nightclub where a 24-year-old man was stabbed to death outside the bar in 2012.
Volpi’s slaying marks the city’s third killing this year and renews questions about the chronic perception of alcohol-fuelled violence that haunts the downtown’s Market-Rideau Street quarter, where street drugs, public drunkenness and prostitution are commonly on display.
Inside Les Suites Hotel late Saturday morning, dozens of sombre students, some accompanied by parents, slowly filed out of the lobby after giving their names and contact information to stern-faced uniformed officers. It’s believed a number of students had been drinking in Gatineau before returning to the hotel.
Les Suites, on the gritty corner of Besserer and Dalhousie streets, was hostile to any questions Saturday and refused all comment, including what security measures, if any, it takes when handling multiple prom night after-parties and what late-night protection and security advice it offers to guests who venture outdoors.
Volpi appears to have been a popular, well-liked student.
“He was one of those guys who always knew how to make you laugh,” said Kevin Charles, who helped coach Volpi.
“He was always smiling, always laughing, turning the worst of situation into the best, and was never one to pick a fight unless they provoked him.”
Volpi was one of the first friends Maalik Merdan, 17, made when he began classes at St. Patrick’s in February.
Merdan said Saturday he was on the fence about attending the prom. Volpi agreed the $75 ticket was hefty but, “I’ll be there to make sure nothing goes wrong,” Volpi told Merdan.
Some students say Volpi had recently been in a fight at school spurred by what they allege was someone stealing nearly $500 from Volpi’s locker. The other student involved in the fight was apparently expelled, students said. A school board official was unable to confirm the students’ remarks. Police would not comment.
Volpi’s friends took to Twitter Saturday to post messages of condolence
Yellow crime scene tape marked the spot beneath the Simon Bolivar statute where 18-year-old St. Patrick’s High School student Brandon Volpi was fatally knifed in front of a throng of students around the hotel’s Besserer Street entrance about 3:30 a.m.
He was later pronounced dead at hospital, several hours after 150 St. Patrick’s students held a glittering prom at the National Arts Centre, leaving around 10:30 p.m. for long-anticipated parties and celebration. Separate prom-goers from at least one other city high school also were staying at the hotel for after-parties.
Volpi was a handsome, towering figure and member of the school’s wrestling and rugby teams, who also practised martial arts. Those who knew him say he viewed himself as a “big brother” and protector. Ironically, Volpi recently confided to a friend that he was going to the prom, “to make sure nothing goes wrong.”
It’s not clear yet whether his killing is linked to a rivalry between schools. Some students and others say the incident began when another male St. Patrick’s student was hit over the head with a bottle outside the hotel by someone in a pack of students from another school. Volpi apparently came out of the hotel to the injured student’s rescue and was attacked and killed. Some described the scene as a brawl involving two groups numbering about 10 students each.
Others speculated the slaying may have been connected to an unconfirmed story about a theft of cash from Volpi’s school locker and ensuing fight with another student, who was expelled.
Police are hunting for a male suspect. The urgent search for physical evidence concentrated late Saturday afternoon on the vacant, grassy site of the former Ottawa police headquarters on the southwest corner of Waller Street and Daly Avenue. A bloodied t-shirt was found there earlier in the day. More blood was discovered on a Waller Street bus shelter near Laurier Avenue. If related to the killing, the discoveries suggest the blood-splattered killer, possibly accompanied by several others, fled on foot from the hotel and south along Waller, discarding incriminating evidence as he ran
Volpi’s grieving father, Danny, manager of the BareFax strip club in the ByWard Market, posted a Facebook tribute to his son.
“To my dear son may you rest in peace. I miss you with all my heart. May justice be served and find who killed my son.
He then added two angry messages to the killer.
“To the coward who killed my son. Come try me. You picked the wrong family to f—with.
“So it took 20 of you f—-s to take my son out. Bunch of cowards,” he wrote in an apparent reference to a rival group of students.
Cousin Derrick Volpi described Brandon as “a good kid.”
“It wasn’t always easy, but he was a good kid in his heart,” Derrick Volpi said. “It’s tough right now.”
A second youth was taken to hospital, treated for minor injuries and released. His name has not been made public. It’s not clear whether he also was stabbed or hit with the bottle.
Passerby Robert Bedard came on the scene shortly after the stabbing.
“I seen a girl sitting on the sidewalk. She was crying,” he said. “A couple of girls came out from the bar and tried to help her.”
Bedard said it had been a rowdy night in and around the market, with a number of street fights.
Earlier in the evening he saw a group brawling outside the BareFax several blocks away on York Street and several people arrested. Police are not aware of any connection between that incident and Volpi’s killing.
The crime scene is just metres from the Studio nightclub where a 24-year-old man was stabbed to death outside the bar in 2012.
Volpi’s slaying marks the city’s third killing this year and renews questions about the chronic perception of alcohol-fuelled violence that haunts the downtown’s Market-Rideau Street quarter, where street drugs, public drunkenness and prostitution are commonly on display.
Inside Les Suites Hotel late Saturday morning, dozens of sombre students, some accompanied by parents, slowly filed out of the lobby after giving their names and contact information to stern-faced uniformed officers. It’s believed a number of students had been drinking in Gatineau before returning to the hotel.
Les Suites, on the gritty corner of Besserer and Dalhousie streets, was hostile to any questions Saturday and refused all comment, including what security measures, if any, it takes when handling multiple prom night after-parties and what late-night protection and security advice it offers to guests who venture outdoors.
Volpi appears to have been a popular, well-liked student.
“He was one of those guys who always knew how to make you laugh,” said Kevin Charles, who helped coach Volpi.
“He was always smiling, always laughing, turning the worst of situation into the best, and was never one to pick a fight unless they provoked him.”
Volpi was one of the first friends Maalik Merdan, 17, made when he began classes at St. Patrick’s in February.
Merdan said Saturday he was on the fence about attending the prom. Volpi agreed the $75 ticket was hefty but, “I’ll be there to make sure nothing goes wrong,” Volpi told Merdan.
Some students say Volpi had recently been in a fight at school spurred by what they allege was someone stealing nearly $500 from Volpi’s locker. The other student involved in the fight was apparently expelled, students said. A school board official was unable to confirm the students’ remarks. Police would not comment.
Volpi’s friends took to Twitter Saturday to post messages of condolence
