Edmonton mass killings ‘extreme case of domestic violence,’ 

Edmonton’s police chief has said that  the mass murder of eight people was planned and deliberate, describing it  as an “extreme case of domestic violence.” Chief Rod Knecht has yet to identify the shooter in the killings, who was found dead from an apparent suicide, but said he had a criminal record stretching back to 1987.

The killings of six adults and two children in Edmonton were committed by a suspect with a stolen 9mm handgun, police chief Rod Knecht said in a news conference.

The victims were found in two separate residences in Edmonton.The man police believe responsible was found dead by suicide in a restaurant in the nearby city of Fort Saskatchewan on Tuesday morning. Knecht said the man had a criminal record dating back to 1987.

“It appears to be an extreme case of domestic violence gone awry,” he said, stressing that there was no evidence of gang links. He said the slayings were planned and deliberate.

Knecht said the first body found by police, now identified as Cyndi Duong, 37, was found by police officers responding to a weapons complaint in south Edmonton around 6:53 p.m. Monday. A man entered the home and shot the woman, who was pronounced dead at the scene, he said.

Police then received a call to check on the welfare of a man at a home located at 83rd Street and 180 Avenue in north Edmonton.

“According to family, the male seemed depressed and overly emotional,” Knecht said is reported to have said.  “The family was concerned that the male may be suicidal.”When police arrived, the man wasn’t there, Knecht said. Then at 12:23 a.m., police went back to the home and discovered the bodies of seven people: three women, two men and two children – a boy and a girl.

As per reports,the adults found dead were between the ages of 25 and 50, with the children under the age of 10. At 2:20 a.m., police went to a restaurant in Fort Saskatchewan. There they found a vehicle matching the description of the one owned by the suicidal male. The SUV was the same vehicle seen in the south Edmonton neighbourhood on Monday night, and was missing from the north Edmonton home.

The man was found dead inside when police entered the restaurant at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday. Knecht said the man died in an apparent suicide. He said police are not looking for other suspects in the slayings.

Autopsies on the remaining victims and the suspect are scheduled for Jan. 1.

Police have not described the relationships between the victims and the man who committed suicide. Knecht said this was the biggest mass murder in Edmonton since six people were slain in 1956.

The gun used in the slaying was registered in British Columbia in 1997 and stolen from Surrey in 2006. Knecht said the suspect had a business interest in the restaurant where he was found dead.