OTTAWA, CANADA: In a tragic incident, six individuals from Sri Lanka, including four children, were fatally stabbed in Ottawa, the capital of Canada, on Wednesday, as reported by the police.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his horror at what he termed a “terrible tragedy.” The father of the family was also injured in the attack and is currently receiving treatment in the hospital.
According to authorities, Febrio De-Zoysa, a 19-year-old Sri Lankan male student, has been apprehended and charged with six counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. De-Zoysa was acquainted with the family and had been residing in the same house, police confirmed.
The victims included a 35-year-old woman and her children aged 7, 4, 2, and 2 months, along with a 40-year-old man who was known to the family.
“This was an inexplicable act of violence committed against entirely innocent individuals,” remarked Ottawa Police Chief Eric Stubbs during a televised briefing. Authorities stated they had no prior interactions with either the suspect or the victims.
Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe described the incident as “one of the most shocking displays of violence in our city’s history” in a social media post.
The city of Ottawa, with a population of one million, recorded 14 murders in 2023 and 15 in 2022.
The victims were discovered within a residence in the Barrhaven area of southwest Ottawa. Emergency calls prompted police to respond to the scene shortly before 11 p.m. on Wednesday.
Mass killings in Canada are rare occurrences. In December 2022, a man shot five individuals in a Toronto suburb before being confronted by police.
Similarly, in September of the same year, a man stabbed and killed 11 people in the province of Saskatchewan before succumbing to a cocaine overdose shortly after his arrest.
