Murders and attempted murders

Canada: Six Members of Sri Lankan Community Murdered

MAR 8 2024·Updated MAR 9 2024

Story

Image credit: Andrew Burton / Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images

The Facts

Six people from Sri Lanka, including a mother and her four young children, were found stabbed to death in their home in the Canadian capital of Ottawa on Wednesday.
CBS News
Police identified the victims as Darshani Dilanthika Ekanyake, 35, and her children: Inuka Wickramasinghe, 7; Ashwini Wickramasinghe, 4; Rinyana Wickramasinghe, 2; and Kelly Wickramasinghe, 2. Amarakoonmubiayansela Ge Gamini Amarakoon, 40, a friend of the family was also killed.
New York Post
Police said Febrio De-Zoysa, a 19-year-old student from Sri Lanka who lived with the family, has been arrested and charged with six counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.
Reuters
Police on Wednesday responded to emergency calls made around 10:52 p.m. from the suburb of Barrhaven, where they quickly identified the suspect and arrested him without incident. Ottawa police chief Eric Stubbs said the victims were stabbed with an "edged weapon."
BBC News
So far a motive and the nature of the relationship between the suspect and victims are unknown.
CBS News
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the killings, calling them an act of "terrible violence." Mass killings are rare in Canada, and Ottawa, a city of 1M people, had just 14 murders in 2023.
Al Jazeera

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

Sources close to this tragedy have said the suspect expressed mental health issues in the months leading up to the killings, which isn't uncommon for students — especially from other countries — because they've been isolated since the start of the COVID pandemic. Communities must do more to address mental health issues to lower the risk of these types of incidents.

Ottawa Citizen

Narrative B

There is no justification for this extreme violence. This suspect callously murdered six innocent victims, including four very young children. All of Canada is shocked and horrified, and everything possible must be done to hold the perpetrator of this heinous crime to account.