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Residents of the neighborhood where a mother of four was stabbed to death on a playground Thursday are devastated and angry, the head of the community association said Saturday.

But they are also eager to help.

“There has been an outpouring of offers to help the family,” Hunt Club Community Association President Audrey Bélanger said. As she spoke, residents continued to lay flowers at the memorial that also included signs and stuffed animals near the playground where Brkti Berhe was stabbed Thursday morning.

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The association is collecting donations to help the woman’s family. “This is not the wealthiest part of our neighborhood. We want to support the family,” Bélanger said.

Berhe’s two older children attend a nearby Catholic school. Bélanger said some parents with children at the school gathered at the playground Friday night and talked about how hard it was for everyone to watch what Berhe’s children — and their friends and classmates — were going through.

Eyewitnesses said Berhe, 36, was stabbed by a man who jumped out of a car and attacked her with a knife. Bystanders comforted Berhe as she died, while others tended to her two younger children and three men followed the attacker’s car and took pictures of it.

Police called those actions heroic and said they helped make a quick arrest on Highway 417 near Casselman, east of Ottawa, shortly after the attack.

Fsha Tekhle, 36, was charged with first-degree murder. Police said he had a domestic relationship with a member of the victim’s family and believed he was returning to Montreal when he was arrested.

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On Saturday, despite the cold wind, area residents continued to stop by the park to pay their respects and leave flowers. Children played nearby.

Carlys Draper said she drove by the area around 11:30 a.m. Thursday, shortly after the stabbing. He watched as a police officer spread a blanket over Berhe’s body.

“There was a guy looking at the body and another woman holding her head,” Draper said. I’m so sad and I hope justice is served.”

A vigil at the site is planned for Tuesday at 6 p.m.River Ward Coun. Riley Brockington said it was organized to help members of the community heal and provide support if needed, especially for those who were directly involved or who witnessed the scene.

“It’s really meant for the community to come together and draw strength,” Brockington said.

He said information would be available on how people who might need it could get professional help to deal with trauma.

“The fact that this happened in a well-visited and loved park that is enjoyed by families just adds to the horror of this event,” Brockington said. “The violent nature of the incident only adds to the community response, including an outpouring of grief, leaving flowers and an outpouring of offers of help from people who don’t know the family but want to help make things better.”

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Several residents of the area drowned while talking about the stabbing.

“That this happened in a children’s park. It breaks my heart,” said neighbor Lina Gosselin. “I was here with my niece every day a few years ago during the pandemic and I thought how sad it is that the children have witnessed. This should not happen in our country.”

Maria McRae, who was previously a longtime city councilor for the area and still lives nearby, said she was out for a walk Thursday and came across police cars and emergency personnel in the park.

“When we found out what happened, there are no words to describe how terrible we felt. It’s such a terrible tragedy,” McRae said.

She said she met a young man along the paths behind the park who had just witnessed the scene and was so shaken she had to talk about it. Around the neighborhood, she said, people were devastated and traumatized by the stabbing.

McRae and others who came to the park Saturday said they were glad police labeled Berhe’s killing a femicide to draw more attention to the killing of women because of their gender. It was the second time in three months that the Ottawa Police Service used the term.

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“It’s an apt word,” McRae said. “As a society, we need to do better. I think it’s useful to talk about it, and it’s useful to have a proper word to describe it. We need to talk about femicide. It’s 2024. We have a long way to go.”

Deputy Chief of Police Trish Ferguson posted on social media platform X: “Another horrific murder of a woman in Canada’s capital because she is a woman. Femicide and violence against women is an epidemic in Canada. Shy.”

The community association’s Bélanger said she has also heard anger from residents about the issue of femicide.

“I hope there is a discussion about femicide,” she said. “I think the residents did everything they could heroically to support Berhe (at the scene) and the family. Now the community wants to know what will be done at a higher level. It feels out of place in 2024.”

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