Friends remember ‘wonderful, funny man’ allegedly murdered by Ontario woman in killing spree

Lance Cunningham’s friends are inactive successful daze aft the 47-year-old chef, hubby and begetter was allegedly murdered successful a Niagara Falls parkland by a alien past Wednesday afternoon, who has besides been accused of sidesplitting idiosyncratic successful Toronto the time earlier and idiosyncratic successful Hamilton the time after.

Cunningham’s death, a daylight onslaught successful a parkland toward the city’s edge, is being treated arsenic a random attack by police.

“It didn’t marque immoderate sense,” Andreas Priftis said successful an interrogation with Global News. Priftis and his wife, Haven, accidental they got to cognize the Cunninghams due to the fact that their children person gone to schoolhouse unneurotic since kindergarten.

“Lance and I worked successful the aforesaid gathering together,” Priftis continued. “He was a cook astatine the casino. He was specified a beauteous antheral and helium loved his girl and it’s conscionable truthful senseless.”

On Wednesday, Cunningham took his 2 dogs for a locomotion astatine John Allan Park earlier picking up his 13-year-old girl from a adjacent schoolhouse sometime earlier 3 p.m.

Niagara Regional Police accidental that, it was astir past astatine 2:49 p.m., they received a telephone for a disturbance successful the park. When they arrived, they recovered Cunningham suffering from captious injuries. Despite aesculapian intervention, helium was pronounced dormant astatine the scene.

Police searched the country but failed to find anyone. That night, conscionable earlier midnight, they enactment retired a quality release, which said “there is nary accusation to suggest that determination is an contiguous menace to information for the nationalist stemming from this incident.”

Andreas Haven Priftis were stunned erstwhile they learned Cunningham was the victim.

“I said to my mom, ‘You won’t judge this, idiosyncratic was murdered successful the parkland crossed from the school,'” Haven said.

“I had nary thought astatine the time, nary idea, that it was Lance. And past it came retired it was him. I didn’t adjacent judge it. I couldn’t judge it. It was his wife’s day truthful I texted her conscionable to nonstop her a ‘Happy Birthday and however are you?’ that’s erstwhile it each hit.”

The mates accidental they’re besides acrophobic that constabulary did not bash much to pass the nationalist aft the murder.

“The brutal quality of it. Whether it was random oregon not, the information that it was this evident spree, wide daylight arsenic well, determination are a batch of fearful parents,” added Haven.

“Because it did hap astatine the clip that it did and schoolhouse was being fto retired soon aft and determination wasn’t a lockdown, determination wasn’t immoderate notification astir it, my interest is it was truthful random. That’s wherefore it was fearful due to the fact that you didn’t cognize what to expect next.”

On Thursday, astatine a quality league astir the apprehension of the accused Sabrina Kauldhar, Chief Bill Fordy was asked wherefore constabulary didn’t pass the nationalist astir the menace of a fishy connected the escaped aft Cunningham’s murder.

Fordy said astatine the time, constabulary were not alert it was a random onslaught and virtually wrong 24 hours of Cunnningham’s murder, a fishy was successful custody.

“I deliberation determination should person astatine slightest been an abundance of caution and it did not consciousness similar determination was,” said Haven.

“Even conscionable to enactment retired a informing truthful we tin determine for ourselves. OK I’m going to prime up my children due to the fact that I had nary thought and that’s frustrating due to the fact that it could person been a batch worse,” said Haven who said children were getting retired of schoolhouse conscionable 20 minutes later.

On Thursday, little than 24 hours aft Cunningham was fatally attacked, 77-year-old Mario Bilich, a retired precocious schoolhouse teacher was fatally stabbed successful a parking batch successful Hamilton arsenic helium was walking backmost to his car. Bilich besides did not cognize Kauldhar who has been charged with first-degree execution successful that case.

For now, the mates is trying to absorption connected supporting Cunningham’s widow and girl and remembering their friend.

“We consciousness truly powerless successful a concern similar this and privation to bash thing for this family. He was similar a fun-loving, shot dad, Steelers fan, and fantastic comic man,” said Haven, who is urging the assemblage to donate to a GoFundMe for Cunningham’s widow and daughter.