Man killed in Red Hill Valley Parkway shooting remembered as ‘someone who loved to laugh’

Hamilton Mountain Mosque was filled to capacity - about 400 people, physically distanced under COVID-19 regulations - Friday for the weekly mass prayer and to pay their respects at a funeral for Matar Abouchere.

He was a gentleman that everybody loved to be around," said the mosque's leader, Imam Sayed Tora. Someone who loved to laugh."

Abouchere was killed July 10 in what police say was a targeted attack. The 27-year-old was driving southbound on Red Hill Valley Parkway when, shortly before 9:30 p.m., shots were fired from a dark-coloured SUV into the blue BMW sedan he was driving. Abouchere died on the way to hospital. The passenger of the car was also shot, but survived his injuries.

The investigation into Abouchere's death is still ongoing, police say.

Abouchere was Hamilton's seventh homicide this year; there have been two more since.

Tora is the former imam and manager of youth and children's programs at the old Hamilton Downtown Mosque - the mosque Abouchere attended growing up.

Tora, who taught Abouchere at the mosque for a few years in the mid-2000s, describes him as a loving, kind, caring young man" who was heavily involved in the community.

Him and his family, they were all quite active in the community and all the social functions," he said. He used to volunteer with us in the garage sales and community picnics we used to have back then."

A graduate of Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School, Abouchere grew up in Hamilton, but did not currently live in the city.

Tora said Abouchere had plans to settle and build a life for himself like any other Canadian would."

With this tragic incident, all those hopes and ambitions are buried," he said.

Abouchere was buried at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens in Stoney Creek on Friday afternoon.

The funeral was in the presence of the family members, his parents, siblings and the friends and everybody who knew him," Tora said. It was quite an emotional scene."

In his funeral speech, Tora addressed gun violence, directing his comments in particular to the young people in the crowd.

Indeed it's a sad day," he said Friday in a funeral speech streamed on the Muslim Association of Hamilton's YouTube. Because we have yet another precious young life lost on the streets of Hamilton."

Tora said this should be an eye-opening experience," especially for the community's youth.

They need to step up and be part of the solution, not part of the problem."

Kate McCullough is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: kmccullough@thespec.com