91原创鈥檚 mass shooting spree on July 25, 2022, left Steven Furness and Paul Wynn dead, and two others injured. The 91原创 Advance Times reconnects with victims鈥� families and first responders on the shooting鈥檚 first anniversary.

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According to Fraser Holland, the multiple murders of July 25, 2022 have left 91原创鈥檚 homeless population 鈥� who usually cluster in groups for safety 鈥� feeling even more at risk.

鈥淗e [the shooter] definitely shook any faith that [homeless] people might have had in their safety on the street. I mean streets aren鈥檛 safe to begin with, it鈥檚 always that there鈥檚 always strength in numbers. But you know, in at least one of the instances on July 25, it was a group that attracted the shooter.鈥�

Holland, chair of the 91原创 housing and homeless action table, who has been working with homeless people for years, said there is, unfortunately, nothing new about violence directed at the homeless.

鈥淏ut, this is a whole different level of violence that can鈥檛 do anything but just really emphasize the vulnerability of an individual when they don鈥檛 even have tent walls around them.鈥�

They are too often targets, he said.

鈥滻 have heard more than enough stories of people being trapped in the [trash] bins when they鈥檙e going through them looking for recycling or whatever, and when they come out, they get beat up.鈥�

READ ALSO: VIDEO: Homeless say 91原创 shootings are escalation of harassment they already endure

While the bulk of the shootings that day were of homeless people, Holland isn鈥檛 sure it means that the homeless were being targeted.

鈥淭hey might have been the easiest people to find,鈥� he commented, noting at least one victim was housed at the time.

Asked what needs to be done, Holland said providing more opportunities for people to be off the street 鈥渨hether that is creating housing or creating shelter spaces, whatever that looks like.鈥�

Better community services are needed, he insisted, 鈥渟o people aren鈥檛 struggling with their mental health when they鈥檙e on the street.鈥�

The tragedy, he said, 鈥渋mpacts me professionally. It impacts me personally. Nobody deserves that.鈥�

Holland knew one of the victims, Paul David Wynn, who died outside Creek Stone Place, a supportive housing project for formerly homeless people.

They had known each other going back about 25 years, he estimated.

鈥淵ou start growing up and go your separate ways,鈥� he recalled.

鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 until I started working in 91原创 [homeless] outreach that I ran into Paul again,鈥� he told the 91原创 Advance Times.

鈥滱fter I got over the initial emotion of what had happened on July 25, the grief, the anger, the sadness, I started thinking about in 2015 when another homeless individual was murdered, Wells Gallagher, by another individual, who at the time was homeless,鈥� Holland said.

A judge later ruled that the killer, David Van Den Brink, could not be convicted of second-degree murder, because he was suffering from a mental disorder 鈥� schizophrenia.

READ ALSO: 91原创 homeless man who stabbed another man in 2015 not criminally responsible

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