A devastating mass murder shook the Canadian capital Ottawa late Wednesday, as six individuals from Sri Lanka, including a mother and her four young children, along with another male acquaintance, were tragically stabbed to death, according to authorities on Thursday. This horrifying incident, which occurred in a country where such acts of violence are uncommon, has deeply unsettled the nation.
Expressing his profound shock, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau termed the event a "terrible tragedy." Additionally, it was reported that the father of the family was also injured in the attack and is currently receiving medical treatment.
The suspect, identified as Febrio De-Zoysa, a 19-year-old Sri Lankan male student, has been taken into custody and charged with six counts of first-degree murder, along with one count of attempted murder. Authorities revealed that De-Zoysa was acquainted with the family and had been residing in their residence.
The victims, tragically lost in this senseless act of violence, include a 35-year-old woman and her children aged 7, 4, 2, and 2 months, as well as a 40-year-old male associate of the family.
Addressing the media in a televised briefing, Ottawa Police Chief Eric Stubbs condemned the incident as a heinous attack on entirely innocent individuals. Notably, authorities clarified that neither the suspect nor the victims had any prior interactions with law enforcement.
Expressing his sentiments on social media, Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe described the incident as "one of the most shocking incidents of violence in our city's history."
The tragic event unfolded in Barrhaven, a southwestern suburb of Ottawa, where police responded to emergency calls just before 11 p.m. on Wednesday, discovering the victims inside a residence.
While Canada typically experiences relatively low levels of mass violence, this incident marks another grim chapter in the country's history. In recent years, similar events have occurred, such as a shooting in a Toronto suburb in December 2022, and a stabbing rampage in Saskatchewan in September of the same year, highlighting the rarity and severity of such occurrences in Canada.
