Canada mass stabbing: Six Sri Lankans, including 4 children killed

Six individuals, including a mother and four young children from Sri Lanka, were tragically knifed to death late on Wednesday in the Canadian capital of Ottawa. This rare and horrifying act of violence has left the country reeling in grief and disbelief.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his horror at what he described as a "terrible tragedy." The father of the family also suffered injuries in the attack and is currently hospitalized.

Authorities identified the suspect as 19-year-old Febrio De-Zoysa, a male student from Sri Lanka. De-Zoysa has been arrested and charged with six counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. Shockingly, it was revealed that De-Zoysa knew the family and had been residing in the same house.

The victims of this senseless violence included a 35-year-old woman and her children aged 7, 4, 2, and 2 months, as well as a 40-year-old man who was an acquaintance of the family.

"This was a senseless act of violence perpetrated on purely innocent people," stated Ottawa Police Chief Eric Stubbs during a televised news conference, emphasizing the brutality of the crime. Police confirmed that they had no prior interactions with either the suspect or the victims.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe took to social media to express his shock, describing the incident as "one of the most shocking incidents of violence in our city's history."

The tragic incident unfolded in the southwestern suburb of Barrhaven, where police responded to emergency calls shortly before 11 p.m. on Wednesday. Ottawa, a city with a population of one million, has historically seen relatively low rates of violent crime, with 14 murders reported in 2023 and 15 in 2022.

Mass killings are rare in Canada. In December 2022, a gunman opened fire in a Toronto suburb, claiming the lives of five individuals before being subdued by law enforcement. Similarly, in September of the same year, 11 people were stabbed to death in the western province of Saskatchewan by a perpetrator who later succumbed to a cocaine overdose after being apprehended.