Weeks after his wife became one of nine people killed in the worst mass murder in Edmonton’s history; David Luu still struggles daily with his immense loss.
“I’m sad and angry – lots of emotions, it goes in a cycle,” Luu said.
On the evening of Monday, December 29, Luu said he and his wife, Cyndi Duong, 37, and their three children were in their southside home – Luu was upstairs with their daughter, and Duong was downstairs helping their sons with homework, when Duong answered the door.
A moment later, Duong had been gunned down.
“My kids don’t want to go home, we drive by to pick up mail, just to look at the house,” Luu said. “My sons and my daughter they refuse to even look at the house.”
Now, the family is living with relatives and has found comfort in their faith.
“I pray every morning, and before I go to bed,” Luu said. “Me and my kids read the bible – that helps me, especially me.
“I know my wife is in a better place.”
Luu says he’s faced with the task of helping his children, aged 14, 10 and 8-years-old, deal with their mother’s death.
“My son Noah says, ‘why did such a bad man do this?’” Luu said. “All I can tell him is; ‘You know what? Let God deal with him, and don’t think about him, and just think about all the good thoughts you have with mom’, and that’s all I can say to them.”
Their oldest son Jeremy is also helping his siblings.
“I tell them, it’s not their fault,” Jeremy said. “They couldn’t have done anything that would’ve prevented this.
“It was the guy on the other side of the door, it was his fault.”
Police say Phu Lam, 53, pulled the trigger and killed Duong that evening.
Later that night, police went to a north side home to find seven people dead inside, and at a third location, a restaurant in Fort Saskatchewan, police said Lam shot and killed himself early Tuesday morning.
Investigators have determined the seven people, identified as Lam’s estranged wife, their son, and members of their family were killed at some point on the Sunday morning.
It’s believed Duong was not Lam’s intended target.
Luu confirmed he didn’t know Lam, and his wife didn’t either – he’s still waiting to hear from detectives on the link between his family and the shooter.
Meanwhile, Jeremy and his hockey team have been selling memorial stickers to raise money for a trust fund – the teen said he’s returned to the ice to make his mom proud.
“She was a really sweet awesome person, she would always be there for me and my siblings try to provide for us no matter what,” Jeremy said. “We were really spoiled.”
As for Luu, even going to his son’s hockey games is emotional – he says it was always something he would do with his wife.
“It’s a hard time to go watch him play, that’s the routine that me and my wife go do something together, to watch him play, and she’s not there.”
With files from Veronica Jubinville