19-year-old Sri Lankan student charged with murder of two adults, four children in Ottawa home

The sleepy Ottawa suburb of Barrhaven awoke Thursday to the murder of four children and two adults, according to the Ottawa Police Service.

Police responded to a 911 call just before 11 pm Wednesday and found the six slain residents of a two-story townhouse. According to Reuters, the victims were identified by police as a 35-year-old woman and her children aged 7, 4, 2, and 2 months old, and a 40-year-old man who was acquainted with the family. All six were from Sri Lanka.

The suspect has been identified as 19-year-old Sri Lankan student Febrio De-Zoysa. He has been arrested and charged with six counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. Police said that De-Zoysa knew the family and had been living in the house.

Ottawa Police Chief Eric Stubbs told Newstalk 580 CFRA's The Morning Rush with Bill Carroll that those investigating the murders don’t believe the incident was a result of domestic or intimate partner violence.

Stubbs says the homicide unit is continuing to investigate.

"The manner of the homicide, we are not disclosing at this time," the chief said. Stubbs said on Thursday afternoon that a "knife-like" edged weapon had been used in the attack.

"A real tragedy; a significant incident for the whole city of Ottawa," Chief Stubbs said during a separate interview on CTV Morning Live.

"We're certainly reaching out to all those in the surrounding area and the community to help them."

One person reportedly survived the bloody rampage. Police have revealed that another person was taken to a nearby Ottawa hospital with serious but non-fatal injuries.

Police vans and yellow crime scene tape marked the murder residence this morning as investigators were apparently removing unidentified material that was blocked from view by a large white sheet.

"This is unbelievable for the whole neighborhood," resident Ahmed Saed told The Canadian Press.