Canadian Police Charge Suspect In Shooting That Left 4 Dead
TORONTO — Canadian police have charged a man for the deaths of two police officers and two civilians in a shooting that struck a nerve in a country that has been roiled in recent months by several instances of mass violence.
Matthew Vincent Raymond, 48, was arrested and charged with four counts of first-degree murder, police said in a statement Saturday.
Horizon Health, which delivers care for New Brunswick's Department of Health, said Raymond was the only person being treated for injuries related to the shooting. He is due to appear in court August 27.
No motive has been disclosed.
Authorities said one suspect was in custody and was being treated for serious injuries. The person's identity was not announced and no motive was disclosed. A news conference was planned for later Friday.
Several other victims were being treated at a regional hospital, but there were no immediate details on the nature of their injuries or their conditions.
"Our hearts are broken by the murder of our two brave police officers," Fredericton Mayor Mike O'Brien said in a tweet.
The entire province of New Brunswick had 11 homicides in 2016.
In Fredericton, a city of about 60,000 residents, people said they were stunned by the scene, which occurred as people were heading to work or dropping children at a day care center not far from the apartment complex where the shooting took place.
"This is the first time I've even heard of any serious crime or violent crime in this city," said Travis Hrubeniuk, whose fiancee had just left their home when the sirens began.
Rachel LeBlanc, who sheltered at a daycare center in the lockdown area on Brookside Drive, told CBC she heard gunshots shortly after arriving there for work on Friday. She said she heard a "crack, crack, crack, four in a row" in rapid succession.
LeBlanc told CBC that the 23 kids in her care were unaware of the security incident, but that she was nervous as the person in charge of their care.
Bill Henwood, a funeral director at York Funeral Home, whose business is located inside the cordoned off area on Brookside Drive, said people sat in their cars or were just standing near the blockade of police and fire vehicles "hanging tight and waiting for word" for news.
"It's not something that we expect in Fredericton to wake up and hear about," Henwood said. "To see that there's actually fatalities is pretty extraordinary for this area."
The shooting comes as Canada wrestles with a string of violence, including an instance in Toronto last month where a man with a handgun opened fire in a crowded part of the city, killing two people and wounding 13 before he either shot himself or was killed by police.
In April, a man who linked himself to a misogynistic online community used a van to run down pedestrians in a busy part of Toronto, killing 10 people and injuring 14.
Authorities are still pursuing leads in an ongoing investigation of a serial killer who has been charged with killing eight men in the city in recent years.
In 2014, a shooting in Moncton, New Brunswick left three Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers dead and two wounded.
There was no immediate information on any suspected motive in the shooting, and no information provided on the identities of the suspect in custody or the victims.
David MacCoubrey, who lives in Fredericton, said he heard about 20 shots fired. He was hiding on his kitchen floor. He awoke in his apartment on Brookside Drive around 7 a.m. local time to the sound of three gunshots about 30 feet from his bed.
MacCoubrey said his apartment complex has four buildings in a square, and it sounded like the shots were coming from the middle of the complex. He said police searched the complex, including his own apartment.
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