Ottawa Police say four children and two adults are dead and a seventh is injured after what the police chief is describing as an attack by a lone actor in an Ottawa suburb Wednesday night.
Police chief Eric Stubbs told CBC News in an interview that it was a “mass shooting” but an Ottawa Police spokeswoman is not confirming the weapon.
Police were called to a townhome in Barrhaven shortly before 11 p.m. Wednesday and discovered the bodies in what Stubbs is calling “a horrific scene.”
One person was arrested very shortly after that, and Stubbs says there is no ongoing threat to public safety.
He says police are still trying to determine the relationship between the suspect and the victims but it did not appear to be the result of domestic violence.
A seventh person was taken to hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries.
None of the victims have been identified.
Barrhaven is a fast-growing suburb about 20 kilometres south of the city’s downtown core.
On Thursday morning, five marked police cars were parked on the street and in driveways near the home, which is a middle unit of a row of brick townhouses.
Several people in white jumpsuits were going in and out of the home throughout the early morning, while parents and kids walked and biked by on their way to a nearby elementary school.
Ahmed Saed was walking his son to the school about a block away from the home Thursday. He lives nearby and walks his son past the home every morning.
“This is unbelievable for the whole neighbourhood,” Saed said.
Police said investigative teams remain at the site and asked anyone with information to contact the homicide unit.
Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe called the news distressing for all of the city’s residents.
“I was devastated to learn of the multiple homicide in Barrhaven, one of the most shocking incidents of violence in our city’s history,” Sutcliffe said in a post on X.
Police said a media update would be provided later Thursday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2024.
