Investigation ongoing in 5 deaths in Sault Ste. Marie intimate partner violence case

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — A police investigation remains underway into shootings that left five people — including three children and the shooter — dead in the northern Ontario city of Sault Ste. Marie.

Police have described what happened Monday night as a tragic case of intimate partner violence.

Investigators have not released any information on the identities of those involved but say the shootings were not a random act of violence.

Police say they first found the body of a 41-year-old, dead from a gunshot wound, around 10:20 p.m. Monday after someone called to report a break-and-enter at a home.

About 10 minutes later, officers got a call for someone with a weapon at a home about three kilometres north from the previous residence and found three children — aged six, seven and 12 — shot dead, and a 45-year-old injured with a gunshot wound.

They say officers also found the 44-year-old shooter, who appeared to have died after a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Sault Ste. Marie Mayor Matthew Shoemaker says what happened is an “unspeakable tragedy” and he hopes the results of the police investigation will spur change.