- Written by Joanna Chisholm & Nadine Yousif
- BBC News, Toronto
image source, Getty Images
Ottawa police say one person has been arrested.
Canadian police are treating the deaths of four children and two adults at an Ottawa home as a homicide.
Officers found the six people while responding to an emergency call at around 22:52 local time (3:52 GMT) on Wednesday.
Ottawa Police Chief Eric Stubbs described the incident as a “shooting incident.”
Police announced that one male suspect was arrested.
The Sri Lankan High Commission in Ottawa told the BBC on Thursday that the victims were family members of Sri Lankan nationals.
The commission did not provide further details and referred questions to police.
Ottawa police said in a statement early Thursday morning that the investigation into the death is “tragic and complex.”
Officials also said at least one person in the Ottawa area suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
They added there is no ongoing threat to public safety.
Chief Stubbs said the incident was a “true tragedy” and would continue to have a “significant” impact on the entire city.
“Obviously, it's a scary scene,” he said in an early morning interview with CTV News.
He added that police do not believe this was a domestic or intimate partner-related incident.
“We believe the impact on the local community will be significant,” he added, stressing that residents and local residents should continue to stay away from the area.
In a separate interview with CBC News on Thursday, he called the incident a “mass shooting.”
Local news reported that a police car was parked outside the home in the Barrhaven area.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed “shock and horror” in Toronto over the incident, calling it “terrible violence.”
Ottawa's mayor called the murders “one of the most shocking incidents of violence in our city's history.”
“We are proud to live in a safe community and this news is sad for all Ottawa residents,” Mark Sutcliffe wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). I wrote this in a post.
“We would like to thank the emergency responders who are investigating and assisting those affected by this horrific event,” he added.
A press conference regarding the investigation, which has been handed over to the Ottawa Police Homicide Unit, will be held Thursday afternoon.
