The residents of Caledonia Road are grappling with shock and fear following a four-hour gun battle between police and a man many of them once considered a quiet neighbour. The confrontation, which left the suspect dead, has left families shaken.
Tuesday morning turned into a nightmare for those living in the apartment complex, where they suddenly heard the sound of heavy gunfire. Dozens of residents scrambled for cover, and parents rushed their children to safety as bullets rained outside.
One woman recalled crouching in her bathroom, too afraid to move. “I was in a corner of my bathroom… I was shaking. “I was nervous,” she said. The traumatic experience made it impossible for her to eat or drink anything, even hours after the gunfire stopped.
The man at the centre of the standoff was known to residents as “Dave” or “Brown Man”. Police have since identified him as Alphonso Wilson, a 54-year-old deportee who was unemployed. For years, he had lived in the complex without causing much disturbance, according to residents. Neighbours described him as someone who kept to himself, quietly going about his routine. The resident described Dave as someone with few friends who enjoyed his own company and did not cause any trouble. That image now sits in stark contrast to Tuesday’s events.
According to investigators, the incident began earlier that morning, shortly after 7 a.m., when Dave allegedly shot Adrian Bernard during an argument, reportedly over the price of eggs. Bernard, despite his injuries, managed to drive his Toyota Corolla away but later crashed into another vehicle. Police responding to the accident quickly realised he had been shot. When he was rushed to the hospital, he was pronounced dead.
The discovery led police to the Caledonia Road complex, where Dave had locked himself inside his ground-floor apartment. From there, he opened fire on officers, sparking a long exchange that was captured and shared widely on social media. Despite repeated calls for him to surrender, he refused. Eventually, armoured vehicles were brought in to breach the building. When officers gained entry, they found Dave injured, and he was taken to the hospital, but he did not survive.
Inside the apartment, police uncovered a significant stash of weapons, including a multi-calibre Omni hybrid rifle, a Beretta pistol with an extended magazine, and more than 450 rounds of ammunition. Many residents who had lived near Dave for nearly a decade say they are struggling to process the sudden transformation of a man they thought they knew.
One long-time resident, who considered him a friend, expressed disbelief that he was capable of such violence. The resident noted that throughout the entire 9 years Dave lived at the apartment complex, he was a completely different person from the one they witnessed on Tuesday.