MOSCOW, December 31 (Sputnik) — An allegedly mentally ill man has killed eight people, including two children and then committed suicide in Canada's western Alberta province, CBC News has reported, citing local police.
According to the police, the killings and the suicide were made in separate locations in the cities of Edmonton and Fort Saskatchewan.
"It is a tragic day for Edmonton and our thoughts go out to the community as we all come to terms with the senseless mass murder of eight people," Rod Knecht, head of Edmonton police, was quoted by the media outlet as saying at a press conference on Tuesday.
The massacre started when a man shot a middle-aged woman in her home on Monday evening. At around midnight, the police found seven more bodies — three women, two men and two children, a boy and a girl, in the gunman's home in north Edmonton, Knecht said, as quoted by CBC News. The shooter was found dead in a restaurant in the nearby Fort Saskatchewan on Tuesday morning.
"According to family, the male seemed depressed and overly emotional. The family was concerned that the male may be suicidal," CBC News quoted the Edmonton police chief as saying.
The police has not disclose the identities of the victims and the suspected killer, or their relationships. According to CBC News, this is the biggest case of mass murder in Edmonton in almost 60 years.
