Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Police in Oak Bay, British Columbia, a suburb of the provincial capital Victoria, report that five bodies were found in a home after having been summoned there on a 911 emergency call.

The 911 call came in at approximately 3 a.m. local time, but police were not able to enter the home until 9 a.m. as they believed “there was a barricaded suspect in the home and information possibly that there may be a firearm associated [with] the home.” Police later revealed that no gunshots were involved in the crime.

Five bodies have been discovered: a six-year-old child and four adults. Saanich Police stated that one of the dead may have been responsible for the deaths. “At this stage we’re not looking for anyone outside the home,” said Sgt. John Price, Saanich Police. In a press release Tuesday, Saanich Police stated they believe that the crime “was not a random attack and that the suspect and the victims were known to each other.”

Rose Stanton, Regional Coroner for the Vancouver Island area, indicated that other crime scene investigators, including blood spatter experts, had been summoned. Stanton also said that the bodies would not be removed from the house until sometime on Wednesday. Commenting on the question of why blood spatter experts have been called in, Stanton told reporters, “Use your imagination…it’s bad, for 30 years of doing this, it’s bad.”

There was some indication that an accelerant was found at the crime scene. “There may have been an attempt to set fire to the residence,” said Regional Coroner Stanton. “There was some flammable material involved.”

Neighbours in Oak Bay say that the family that lived in the home consisted of a couple in their thirties, two young children, and a mother-in-law who recently arrived from Korea.