By MELISSA JUERGENSEN, NELLY ELAYOUBI AND TOBI COHEN, OTTAWA SUN
Two officers stand outside the tape blocking a car in the driveway of a home where a woman, 21, was slain last night. (Geoff Robins, SUN)
FLOWERS, candles, food offerings and notes of sympathy now mark the entrance to a downtown karaoke bar yesterday where two Chinese students were shot to death Tuesday.
The shrine to 20-year-old Algonquin College students Tailang Liu and Linhai Tian formed slowly throughout the afternoon as friends and strangers stopped to pay their respects.
At one point, a group of 12 close friends, including Tian's girlfriend, gathered before the Fullhouse Karaoke Tea Cafe in a semi-circle, hugging each other.
LONGTIME FRIENDS
Too distraught to speak, all that could be heard over the hum of passing traffic were faint sobs and sniffling of people in mourning.
"He was just really nice," said one girl, her voice quivering as she buried her head into a male friend's shoulder before leaving the scene.
Tian and Liu had been longtime friends who attended a private school together in Shenzhen, China.
Liu had attended Algonquin College, where he enrolled in the ESL program before moving on to study business administration last fall.
"Algonquin College is saddened by the deaths of Tailang Liu and Linhai Tian and offers condolences to their families and friends," Algonquin College president Robert Gillett said in a statement.
Liu was well known among the local Chinese student community for his voice. An avid singer, in October he competed in a karaoke competition at the Ha Ha Diner in Gloucester.
"He had a beautiful voice," said a 21-year-old female nursing student at Algonquin, who described Liu as a generous soul who would offer to pay for his friends' meals.
He was in the process of forming a band with three friends and was scheduled to perform at the 2006 Chinese New Year Dance and Memorial in January at Centrepointe Theatre. Tian was going to be the band's driver.
The double murder has sent chills through the Chinese student community.
Local Chinese student chatrooms have been buzzing with comments, and even the consular of the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa, Yuan Song Jiang, said he's been fielding phone calls from media across Canada and China.
While police cars continue to sit outside the three entrances of the Somerset St. W. bar, which remained cordoned off with yellow tape yesterday, no arrests have been made.
CHINATOWN 'SAFE'
According to landlord Philip Yip, who rents the space to the bar owners, the men were shot by a lone gunman following an altercation in the bathroom.
At least one of the owners, he said, witnessed the shooting and has since been at home unwilling to speak about it.
Yip said he heard the argument started because one of the victims was taking too long in the bathroom while another group was waiting to use the toilet.
When the victims returned to their table, the other group followed and a fight ensued, culminating with the shooting.
"What I heard is the gunman ran out the front door and headed west on Somerset," Yip said.
Yip maintains Ottawa's Chinatown is one of the safest in all of North America despite the murder.
Still, many in the community are worried.
"We feel unsafe. Already it's three or two days and nothing new from police officers. We feel a little bit down," said an acquaintance of Tian who lives in the same Meadowlands Dr. apartment building Tian shared with a friend and his girlfriend.
Vincent Wei and his girlfriend Lily didn't know the victims, but felt compelled to attend the makeshift memorial yesterday.
"It's so near to us and we can't believe it happened," Wei said. "Now my girlfriend is afraid to go to Chinatown by herself."
Jiang said the families of both victims have been contacted and are expected to arrive by the weekend.
tobi.cohen@ott.sunpub.com
Two officers stand outside the tape blocking a car in the driveway of a home where a woman, 21, was slain last night. (Geoff Robins, SUN)
FLOWERS, candles, food offerings and notes of sympathy now mark the entrance to a downtown karaoke bar yesterday where two Chinese students were shot to death Tuesday.
The shrine to 20-year-old Algonquin College students Tailang Liu and Linhai Tian formed slowly throughout the afternoon as friends and strangers stopped to pay their respects.
At one point, a group of 12 close friends, including Tian's girlfriend, gathered before the Fullhouse Karaoke Tea Cafe in a semi-circle, hugging each other.
LONGTIME FRIENDS
Too distraught to speak, all that could be heard over the hum of passing traffic were faint sobs and sniffling of people in mourning.
"He was just really nice," said one girl, her voice quivering as she buried her head into a male friend's shoulder before leaving the scene.
Tian and Liu had been longtime friends who attended a private school together in Shenzhen, China.
Liu had attended Algonquin College, where he enrolled in the ESL program before moving on to study business administration last fall.
"Algonquin College is saddened by the deaths of Tailang Liu and Linhai Tian and offers condolences to their families and friends," Algonquin College president Robert Gillett said in a statement.
Liu was well known among the local Chinese student community for his voice. An avid singer, in October he competed in a karaoke competition at the Ha Ha Diner in Gloucester.
"He had a beautiful voice," said a 21-year-old female nursing student at Algonquin, who described Liu as a generous soul who would offer to pay for his friends' meals.
He was in the process of forming a band with three friends and was scheduled to perform at the 2006 Chinese New Year Dance and Memorial in January at Centrepointe Theatre. Tian was going to be the band's driver.
The double murder has sent chills through the Chinese student community.
Local Chinese student chatrooms have been buzzing with comments, and even the consular of the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa, Yuan Song Jiang, said he's been fielding phone calls from media across Canada and China.
While police cars continue to sit outside the three entrances of the Somerset St. W. bar, which remained cordoned off with yellow tape yesterday, no arrests have been made.
CHINATOWN 'SAFE'
According to landlord Philip Yip, who rents the space to the bar owners, the men were shot by a lone gunman following an altercation in the bathroom.
At least one of the owners, he said, witnessed the shooting and has since been at home unwilling to speak about it.
Yip said he heard the argument started because one of the victims was taking too long in the bathroom while another group was waiting to use the toilet.
When the victims returned to their table, the other group followed and a fight ensued, culminating with the shooting.
"What I heard is the gunman ran out the front door and headed west on Somerset," Yip said.
Yip maintains Ottawa's Chinatown is one of the safest in all of North America despite the murder.
Still, many in the community are worried.
"We feel unsafe. Already it's three or two days and nothing new from police officers. We feel a little bit down," said an acquaintance of Tian who lives in the same Meadowlands Dr. apartment building Tian shared with a friend and his girlfriend.
Vincent Wei and his girlfriend Lily didn't know the victims, but felt compelled to attend the makeshift memorial yesterday.
"It's so near to us and we can't believe it happened," Wei said. "Now my girlfriend is afraid to go to Chinatown by herself."
Jiang said the families of both victims have been contacted and are expected to arrive by the weekend.
tobi.cohen@ott.sunpub.com
