CAMBRIDGE - The details behind the murder of a grandmother with deep family roots in Preston remain a mystery.

Who would want to shoot Helen Schaller, a dedicated grandma who went to her grandchildren's soccer games and was described as selfless, honest and loving?

Cambridge's second homicide of the year has left the Preston community in shock and fear.

Schaller was gunned down in the parking lot behind 757 King St. E, between Church Street North and Westminster Drive North, at 5:30 p.m. on April 17.

A relative said she lived in an apartment at 757 King St. E. with her husband, Fred Schaller. Her son manages the building and renovated the upstairs into higher-end rental units.

Late Wednesday night, Schaller's sister, Carol Thorman, released a two-page statement blaming the drug crisis for the deterioration of the community she calls home.

She described the drug crisis as a "scourge" taking over the community.

Thorman, of Cambridge, asks residents in the city to take back their community and demand better solutions for those battling the opioid crisis.

But Thorman said her sister, who always put others first, had nothing to do with drugs.

"Helen was not involved in the drug trade in any shape or form," Thorman said in an interview Thursday, fighting back tears.

"Nobody deserves that to happen to them. It doesn't matter whose sister, whose wife, whose daughter," she said.

Flowers mark the spot where Schaller was last seen alive in the parking lot. A ribbon, commemorating Schaller as a loving wife, is wrapped around a bouquet.

A yet-to-be identified killer, who gunned down Schaller, remains at large.

Waterloo Regional Police continue to be tight-lipped about their investigation.

Investigators have interviewed local business owners along the core area and have asked for video surveillance of that day.

Police say they are looking for a suspect described as a white man with a slim build and a shaved or bald head. He is between 20 and 40 years of age.

Police are also looking for a red Honda Fit that they say was in the area at the time of the shooting and last seen going toward Guelph.

On Thursday, police said they are "actively" investigating her death and encourage anyone with information, no matter how small, to contact police, spokesperson Cherri Greeno said.

In an interview, Thorman cried as she talked about the hundreds of mourners who attended her sister's funeral mass at St. Clement's Catholic Church on Duke Street on Wednesday.

"There weren't enough seats," she said.

The day before, people lined up out the door of the Barthel Funeral Home spilling on to the sidewalk along Argyle Street South.

Schaller and Thorman's father, Robert MacDonald, started MacDonald Steel in 1957, a custom steel fabrication company now run by their brother Ken MacDonald.

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Thorman is calling on the community to reach out to all levels of government and demand that parks and trails be cleaned up, and that much-needed health resources be offered to help those battling drug addiction.

"Safe consumption sites give a false sense of security and fail to address the fact that 78 per cent of overdoses in our region occur in private homes and shelters," she said in her statement.

"Support your local business communities and refuse to be held hostage to fear. We can't and won't allow a few to intimidate us," she said.

"We believe that this community is filled with good people, and we are taking it back from those who want to destroy it."

Thorman said she's frustrated with "idle gossip" and the speculation about her sister's death and rumours that are swirling about her.

Thorman said she can't talk about why her sister was killed and directed those questions to police.

Thorman said she wants the devastating loss of her sister to be the "catalyst to make our community whole again."

"She always found a way to find the good in people and worked to leave this world a better place than she found it," she said.

"It is up to us to carry on that legacy."

Anyone with information on the shooting can call police at 519-570-9777, ext. 8666, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

lmonteiro@therecord.com

Twitter: @MonteiroRecord

- Cambridge woman killed in shooting identified as Helen Schaller, 58