Six people – including four children and two adults – were found dead inside a home in suburban Ottawa, in what police are investigating as a multiple-homicide and the city’s mayor calls one of the “most shocking” cases of violence in Ottawa’s history.
Sri Lanka’s High Commission in Ottawa confirmed to Global News that the two adult victims are Sri Lankan nationals.
“We know that the mother and father both of them are Sri Lankans. We do not know about the children’s status because they might have been born here. We don’t know about that,” said the commission when reached by phone.
Ottawa Police Service says it does not believe the killings are an act of “domestic violence.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the six deaths as a “terrible tragedy.”
“Our first reactions are all ones of shock and horror at this terrible violence,” he said at a news conference Thursday.
Officers were called to a home in the city’s west end around 11 p.m. Eastern Wednesday night. The victims’ identities have not yet been released and the Ottawa Police Service’s homicide unit is on scene investigating.
Residents of nearby homes on Berrigan Drive in Barrhaven where police made the gruesome discovery told Global News the neighbourhood is normally quiet and filled with families.
“[It’s] absolutely horrifying,” said Mayson LeBlanc who lives near the scene and saw officers with flashlights searching the area.
Ahmad Sabaw normally walks his son to school in the area. Blood could be seen on the sidewalk along their route.
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“This is unbelievable,” said Sabaw. “My kids are asking, ‘What’s going on, what’s happened, is it safe?’”
Map of the Ottawa area and where the homicides took place in Barrhaven.
Global News
Officers said one person was taken into custody and that there is no threat to public safety.
“This is a tragic and complex investigation,” police said.
Property records list Harpreet Chhabra and Mandeep Saluja as the owners of the home since 2013.
Global News called Chhabra’s office. The woman who answered said Chhabra is away on vacation and was not inside the home Wednesday night.
Global News has also reached out to Mandeep Saluja and is waiting to hear back.
Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe called it “one of the most shocking incidents of violence in our city’s history.”
“We are proud to live in a safe community but this news is distressing to all Ottawa residents,” Sutcliffe said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.
Ontario MPP for the area Lisa MacLeod also expressed her shock on social media, posting on X “there are no words for the heartbreak me and my neighbours feel for the surviving family, friends & playmates of the deceased.”
Barrhaven resident Katie McNelly said she is “devastated” and added that calling it a “tragedy is an understatement.”
“It’s going to take a long time for the community to get over this,” she told Global News.
Police said more information will be made available later in the day.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Ottawa police or Crime Stoppers anonymously.
-With files from Gabby Rodrigues
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
