Man who survived shooting rampage speaks out from hospital bed

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David Tokley’s doctors were skeptical when he told them he’d be walking the next day.

The 43-year-old Stratford resident had just come out of surgery Friday to remove shrapnel from the right side of his skull after being struck by a shotgun blast during a shooting rampage outside his home the previous night.

“When I came to . . . I said, ‘By noon tomorrow, I’m going to walk.’ They didn’t believe me,” Tokley said Tuesday from his hospital room at Victoria Hospital in London.

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“Sure enough, by noon, I was walking down the hall.”

Tokley’s first steps at the London hospital last Saturday offer a glimmer of hope following an unprecedented night of gun violence in Stratford, where police say a “neighbourhood dispute” left two people dead and two others injured on a residential street in the city’s north end.

Tokley was inside his Bradshaw Drive home around 10:45 p.m. on Aug. 1, last Thursday, when he said he heard gunfire coming from outside. Disregarding his own safety, Tokley rushed out to help.

“I knew there were kids . . . and I was running,” he said. “People were like ‘take cover’ and instead of taking cover I kept running.”

Tokley remembers being tackled and told he’d been shot. “I didn’t even know I was hit, nothing,” he said.

Ricky Bilcke, 31, another resident of Bradshaw Drive near McCarthy Road, fatally shot his across-the-road neighbour Jonathan Bennett, 36, with a high-powered rifle before grabbing a shotgun and shooting Tokley, police said.

Bilcke then shot Stephanie Irvine, Bennett’s partner, as she came out of her home, and continued firing more shots before turning the gun on himself, police said.

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Investigators said the shooting was the result of an “ongoing neighbour dispute.”

Residents on Bradshaw Drive said Stratford police had been called to the street regularly in recent months – sometimes up to three times in a single week – and Bennett and Irvine were hosting a get-together at their home on the night of the shooting.

The couple had an argument with Bilcke, who lived across the street, around 5 p.m., neighours said.

But Tokley said he’d never had any negative interactions with Bilcke, a man he described as someone who mostly kept to himself and didn’t venture outside often.

“I was at the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said.

Stratford police didn’t respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Support for Tokley, known to his co-workers at Tim Hortons as Ducky because of the oversized rubber shoes he wears at work, has poured in since the shooting.

“We are just missing him and wish him a speedy recovery so he can rejoin his work family,” said Rita Bedour, general manager at the Huron Street coffee shop.

Assistant manager Liam Fraser described Tokley as “the most kind and caring and selfless individual you will ever meet.”

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“He’s always there to help whenever you need it. It doesn’t matter what it is, he’s there to help. He would give the shirt off his back if it meant he could help someone out,” said Fraser, one of several co-workers who has visited Tokley in hospital.

Co-worker Kura Mercer said Tokley’s sense of humour and willingness to help out make him an invaluable part of the team.

“He’s fun to work around. He can make a joke out of everything,” Mercer said.

Tokley’s older brother, Aaron Hardman, posted a photo on social media showing his sibling standing in his hospital room that drew dozens of message of support.

“I wanted to share that joy with others . . . There are miracles in life,” he said, adding the community support for his brother has given him strength.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said.

Back on Bradshaw Drive, a residential street near the Stratford Rotary Complex, the home Tokley shares with his brother still shows evidence of the shooting. Windows on the second floor are broken and the front bannister is pockmarked from shotgun pellets.

Tokley, who spent three days in the intensive-care unit, still faces a long road to a full recovery, but he’s already looking forward to returning to work and reuniting with his beloved dog Max, an American bulldog-chow mix.

“I’m still trying to process what went down,” Tokley said.

dcarruthers@postmedia.com
@DaleatLFPress

cosmith@postmedia.ca
@CorySmith1980

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