B.C. Man Kills His Family, Then Himself Young Boy Only One To Escape Murder-Suicide In Surrey

A man gunned down his wife, two daughters and another woman, then took his own life Friday, Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.

A woman, possibly the mother or grandmother, emerged with a toddler, sent him into the early morning darkness and returned to the house, where she died, making the youngster the lone survivor, Constable Grant Learned said.

“She had apparently been injured in some capacity,” Learned said. “The child was picked up by one of the neighbors and had gone with him for protection. This female apparently went back into the house.”

Police found the bodies six hours later when they finally entered the family’s townhouse in this Vancouver suburb after an emergency response team staked it out. They had believed the gunman was still in the house and tried unsuccessfully to make contact all morning.

The dead included an 8-year-old girl, a 14-year-old girl and an older woman, possibly the man’s mother.

“All were shot. We have recovered three firearms in the house. All were rifles,” said Learned.

The little boy who survived, about 3, was in the house when the shots were fired. The bewildered child was bundled in a blanket and rushed from the scene by a police officer before the emergency squad moved in.

Police initially suspected a hostage-taking when neighbors reported shots and shouts about a bomb.

Officers armed with high-powered rifles, dogs and a camera-equipped robot surrounded the posh complex surrounded by tall evergreens, a five-foot brick and wrought-iron fence and an electronically controlled gate.

Nearby residents, many of them seniors, were evacuated.

By evening people arriving home from work saw bodies being taken from the scene to a line of waiting station wagons.

“Any time this happens in your community it is a shock,” said Doug Chislitt, who had just arrived home from a trip to Calgary.

The family never exchanged more than “just a friendly wave. They kept very much to themselves,” Chislitt said.

Neighbors said the family arrived from either Taiwan or Vietnam about six months ago and gave no sign of domestic trouble.