World News

6 people, including mom and 4 kids, identified after being found dead in ‘mass killing’ at Canadian home

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Published March 7, 2024
Updated March 7, 2024, 5:35 p.m. ET

Six people, including a mother and her four kids, were slaughtered in a “mass killing” inside a Canadian home overnight, cops said Thursday.

Febrio De-Zoysa, 19, allegedly used an “edged weapon” to attack the family in their Barrhaven neighborhood townhouse shortly before 11 p.m., according to Ottawa Police Chief Eric Stubbs.

Police identified the victims as 35-year-old Darshani Dilanthika Ekanyake and her young children: Inuka Wickramasinghe, 7; Ashwini Wickramasinghe, 4; Rinyana Wickramasinghe, 2; and 2-month-old Kelly Wickramasinghe.

Members of the coroner's office stand outside the scene of a homicide where six people were found dead in the Barrhaven suburb of Ottawa on Thursday, March 7, 2024.
Members of the coroner’s office stand outside the scene of a homicide where six people were found dead in the Barrhaven suburb of Ottawa on Thursday, March 7, 2024. AP

Family friend Amarakoonmubiayansela Ge Gamini Amarakoon, 40, was also killed.

One person — the husband and father of the young victims — who was found alive inside the home was rushed to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

The family were newcomers to Canada originally from Sri Lanka, Stubbs said.

Police officers hold up a sheet as members of the coroner's office remove a body at the scene.
Police officers hold up a sheet as members of the coroner’s office remove a body at the scene. AP

“I want to emphasize this was a senseless act of violence perpetrated on purely innocent people. I know our whole community is shocked and mourning this event,” said the police chief.

De-Zoysa was arrested at the scene without incident, cops added.  

Stubbs clarified Thursday afternoon that the incident was not a shooting as initially believed: “This was a mass killing, not a mass shooting.”

He added that police didn’t believe it was a domestic-related incident, but did not reveal a motive.

Police vehicles are parked at the scene where six people were found dead.
Police vehicles are parked at the scene where six people were found dead. AP

Police said De-Zoysa — who is also a Sri Lankan national and is in Canada as a student — was an acquaintance of the family and was living in the home at the time of the killings.

Cops had never dealt with either De-Zoysa or his alleged victims before being called to the murder scene Wednesday.

He was charged with six counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. 

Ottawa’s Mayor Mark Sutcliffe on Thursday called the mass murder “one of the most shocking incidents of violence in our city’s history.”  

“We are proud to live in a safe community but this news is distressing to all Ottawa residents,” he tweeted.

“Thank you to our emergency responders who are investigating and supporting those who are affected by this terrible event.”

In a letter to parents, the Ottawa Catholic School Board confirmed the two eldest children were students in second grade and junior kindergarten at the nearby Monsignor Paul Baxter School.

“Our deepest sympathies and sincerest condolences go to the families and loved ones of the victims during this incredibly challenging time. We cannot imagine the pain and sorrow they must be experiencing,” the school’s principal Vincenza Nicoletti wrote in the letter, obtained by CBC.