Search for answers underway in Sault Ste. Marie shooting rampage that left five dead

Investigators are working to piece together what led a man to kill four people – including three children – before turning a gun on himself in the northern Ontario city of Sault Ste. Marie.

Police have called what happened a case of intimate partner violence and have not released the identities of those involved.

Chief Hugh Stevenson has said police got a domestic violence call from one of two homes involved in the gunman’s rampage a day before the shootings took place.

Stevenson has not released further details but has said the shooter was involved in intimate partner investigations in the past.

Police have said the shooter first broke into a home on Monday night and killed a 41-year-old woman before heading to a second home and killing three children – aged six, seven and 12 – and shooting another woman, aged 45, who survived.

The 44-year-old shooter was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot.

Residents in Sault Ste. Marie have said they are devastated by the shootings.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2023.

Fakiha Baig, The Canadian Press