Former Niagara woman shot and killed

(Update)

Jelena Loncar moved from Niagara Falls to Toronto a couple of years ago, looking for a better job. But early Tuesday morning she was shot in the chest in the city’s entertainment district — waiting for a friend to leave a party. She later died. It is believed that Jelena was not to have been the intended target — but was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Jelena Loncar grew up in Niagara Falls. The 31-year old was making a name for herself in the hospitality industry before she was killed early Tuesday morning.

Zoran Trifkovic was a friend: “When my customers told me, I couldn’t believe it. I called a few of my friends and they told me it’s true.”

Jelena and her sister were regular customers at Zoran Trifkovic’s “Cafe Nautica” on Queen Street. She organized New Year’s Eve parties for him. She worked at Casino Niagara before moving to Toronto a couple of years ago.

The horrible irony is that Jelena’s family moved to Canada 20 years ago to escape the violence in war-torn Yugoslavia. And then Jelena’s is killed simply standing on a street in Toronto.

It was about three in the morning. Jelena had just left her bartending job. She was standing outside a bar on Wellington Street in Toronto when someone started shooting. Jelena was struck in the chest.

Zoran: “Terrible, who did this. I don’t know.”

There was another shooting victim there. A man in his 20’s who was riddled with bullets, but survived. Police have not confirmed his name. But the Halifax Herald Chronicle says he’s 25-year old Tremaine Fraser. He is a former college basketball star and a man known to police.

Meanwhile, Jelena’s family in Niagara Falls is asking for privacy as they wait for her mother to fly home. Her mother was vacationing in Serbia when she got the terrible news her eldest daughter had been shot to death.