Two boys and their father found dead in Ottawa murder-suicide

Ottawa police found the bodies of two boys, aged 7 and 12, at a home in Findlay Creek. Their father was found dead in a burning vehicle near Kemptville.

Father, two young sons dead in Findlay Creek murder-suicide

Ottawa police are investigating a murder-suicide that claimed the lives of two young boys and their father, cbc.ca reports.

Officers conducting a wellness check around 10 a.m. Monday discovered the bodies of a seven-year-old and a 12-year-old inside a home on Mandevilla Crescent in the south Ottawa neighbourhood of Findlay Creek. The man's body was found separately — inside a vehicle reported on fire at a carpool lot north of Kemptville, Ont., roughly 55 kilometres south of Ottawa.

Police have not released the names of those involved, saying they are still in the process of notifying the family.

Supt. Jamie Dunlop, speaking at a news conference outside Ottawa Police Service headquarters Monday afternoon, confirmed the man was divorced from the children's mother. She will be interviewed as part of the investigation, Dunlop said. The wellness check was requested not by the boys' mother, but by another person, after no one answered the door at the Findlay Creek home.

"Obviously it's a very tragic incident for the families, the friends, neighbours," Dunlop said. "Certainly when children are involved, it's extra difficult to understand."

Dunlop added that other children are "associated" with the family but said police are "confident that they're all in good care at the moment."

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe responded Monday afternoon on social media, writing: "There are no words to describe this immeasurable loss, my thoughts are with everyone grieving today, especially the family and their close friends."

Ontario Provincial Police were also deployed to two additional scenes believed to be connected to the case. A fire was reported at 2 a.m. at a business in a commercial plaza on County Road 2 in Iroquois, Ont., approximately 80 kilometres south of Ottawa. No injuries were reported there. Photos from that scene show heavy structural damage to the end unit of a commercial building, including collapsed masonry, with police tape enclosing the area.

A resident of the Iroquois building, J.G. Menard, said he was woken by the blast. "It was just a big explosion," he said.

Ottawa police describe the investigation as "ongoing and complex," with both the carpool lot and the commercial building scenes considered linked to the case.

On Mandevilla Crescent, neighbour Desire Omofoma said he returned home from work to find a heavy police presence. "It didn't feel real, you know, to be so close to home," he said.

Source: Google News CA — Crime (EN)