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UPDATE | Ottawa police initially referred to what happened as a mass shooting. The force has since corrected the record, saying there was no shooting on Berrigan Drive. This is a developing story, and it will continue to be updated.
Six people including a mother, her four young children and a family acquaintance were killed inside a townhouse in the south Ottawa suburb of Barrhaven late Wednesday night.
During a media briefing Thursday afternoon, Ottawa police Chief Eric Stubbs said there were initially two calls to 911 around 10:52 p.m. Wednesday.
He said first responders arrived within minutes to the home on Berrigan Drive near Palmadeo Drive, a residential area close to two schools.
Police have identified five of the victims as a family of newcomers to Canada from Sri Lanka. They are:
- 35-year-old Darshani Banbaranayake Gama Walwwe Darshani Dilanthika Ekanyake.
- Seven-year-old Inuka Wickramasinghe.
- Four-year-old daughter Ashwini Wickramasinghe.
- Two-year-old Rinyana Wickramasinghe.
- Two-month-old Kelly Wickramasinghe.
Police said Ekanyake’s husband was injured and is currently in hospital in stable condition.
Another man, 40-year-old Amarakoonmubiayansela Ge Gamini Amarakoon, was also killed.
Febrio De-Zoysa, 19, is charged with six counts of first-degree murder. Police said he is a Sri Lankan national who is believed to be in Canada as a student. The suspect was arrested at the scene about 15 kilometres south of Ottawa’s downtown core.
A spokesperson for the Sri Lankan High Commission who did not want to be identified told CBC the deceased include a Sri Lankan woman and her four children, and that the father, also Sri Lankan, survived but was injured.
Ottawa police said there is no ongoing risk to public safety.
In an interview on CBC News Network later Thursday morning, Ottawa police Chief Eric Stubbs initially called the incident a “mass shooting.”
In fact, the incident was not a shooting. Later Thursday, Staff Sgt. Jeff Pilon, one of the leads of the homicide unit, told CBC there was no shooting on Berrigan Drive.
Not believed to be intimate partner violence
In an interview with CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning, police Chief Eric Stubbs said the force can’t yet comment about the relationship, if any, between the victims and the suspect.
He said investigators do not believe it to be a case of intimate partner violence.
“This is a tragic file … and it will greatly impact the city of Ottawa, let alone the immediate neighbourhood in Barrhaven. So obviously we encourage everybody to reach out and get help to help manage themselves through this traumatic event,” Stubbs said.
WATCH | A neighbour reacts
David Brose said he heard on the radio that six people were killed and another was injured overnight. He came to see the scene himself Thursday morning.
‘I can’t believe it’
After hearing the news early Thursday, Barrhaven resident David Brose came to the scene.
“I’m obviously in shock … it’s tough,” he said, his voice breaking. “I’m just in awe. I can’t believe it.”
Nepean MPP Lisa MacLeod, whose riding includes this part of Barrhaven, said the community woke up to shock and grief.
“There are no words for the heartbreak me and my neighbours feel for the surviving family, friends [and] playmates of the deceased,” she said.
My community has woken up to shock, grief and tragedy today as 6 people, including four children, have been murdered. There are no words for the heartbreak me and my neighbours feel for the surviving family, friends & playmates of the deceased. I’ve spoken already this morning…
—@MacLeodLisa
On social media, Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe called it “one of the most shocking incidents of violence in our city’s history.”
In a later interview on CBC News Network, he said people in the community have been “stunned” by the news.
“In particular I know people are just devastated to hear that children are involved,” Sutcliffe said. “I think that’s what’s most heartbreaking to me and to my family and to all Ottawa residents, is to hear of violence on this scale and to know that children were victims … it’s just really incomprehensible and unimaginable and absolutely devastating.”
WATCH | Mayor Mark Sutcliffe on ‘abhorrent’ violence:
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says people in Ottawa were devastated to learn of the killings of four children and two adults in Barrhaven.
Coun. Wilson Lo, who represents the area, said on social media that he was “saddened to learn of the tragic loss of six Barrhaven neighbours,” and that his thoughts are with their loved ones and people close by.
Property records show it has been owned by two people since 2013.
CBC is working to confirm more details.
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