The lone suspect in a shooting at an Oshawa home that killed a father, two of his sons, his daughter and seriously injured his wife early Friday morning is a relative of the victims, police say.
Officers were called to a house on Parklane Avenue, near Harmony Road North and King Street East, at around 1:20 a.m. after receiving "numerous calls" for a reported shooting, Durham Regional Police Const. George Tudos told reporters on Friday morning.
"It was quite a chaotic scene. Even for the residents in the area. A lot of callers calling in stating that they were hearing a lot of the gunshots, a lot of screaming coming from this residence,” he said.
"A lot of people did hear the gunshots and contacted 911 immediately so we were here within minutes."
He said officers from all divisions rushed to the area, including members of the tactical support unit.
“When they arrived on scene, they actually did also hear what they believed to be gunshots coming from a residence. They were eventually able to enter one of the residences here on Parklane, where they made a grisly discovery."
Police have confirmed that three males and one female were shot to death inside the home and another woman was taken to a local hospital with serious but non-life-threatening gunshot wounds.
The surviving victim is expected to make a full recovery, Tudos said.
CTV News has learned that the victims are a father and three of his children, and the 50-year-old woman in hospital is the children's mother. The husband and wife both worked as school teachers.
The couple's lone surviving child was away at school at the time of the shooting, CTV News has also learned.
The ages of the victims have not been released but police confirmed earlier on Friday that two of the children are under the age of 18.
The body of a fifth person, who police believe to be the gunman, was located inside the home, and investigators say he sustained what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
On Friday evening, police confirmed that the alleged shooter, identified as 48-year-old Winnipeg resident Mitchell Lapa, is related to the victims.
In a news release, police said Lapa was an "uninvited person" to the home. The homicide unit is still investigating the motive for the shooting.
Tudos said it appears the weapon used in the deadly attack was a long gun.
Police confirmed that a white Ford pickup truck with Manitoba plates found parked in front of the house overnight was registered to Lapa.
"That vehicle that was located in front of the residence. It was parked the wrong way facing oncoming traffic," Tudos said.
Police will also be reviewing security video in the neighbourhood to try to piece together the sequence of events.
"We are going to look at video surveillance just to confirm when it happened, how long it took place," Tudos said.
He said officers and paramedics who responded to the incident as well as members of the community are "shaken up" by the devastating incident that unfolded in the quiet neighbourhood just hours ago.
"I don't think we have come into this area for any major incidents," Tudos said.
"We do have a crisis team that have arrived and they are going to speak with the officers involved and anyone who may need some support during this difficult time."
Neighbours describe family as 'kind,' 'quiet'
Neighbours told CP24 that the victims had lived for many years at the residence where the shooting took place.
"This family has lived here as long as I've lived here, 27 years, and they were very quiet," George Oudyk said on Friday morning.
One neighbour described the family as "super kind people" who were "very involved in the community."
"They were very happy, outgoing, very family-oriented people," he said.
Oudyk called the neighbourhood where the gunfire erupted early this morning as "just the nicest place to live."
"This is a quiet neighbourhood. Everyone gets along. There is a park here at the end of the street and everybody walks their dogs, eats there," he added. “It’s just really sad.”
