Image copyright Kev Bourque/via Reuters Image caption Emergency vehicles pictured near the scene in Fredericton, New Brunswick
Canadian police say a suspect is in custody after at least four people - two of them police officers - were killed in a shooting in the eastern city of Fredericton, New Brunswick.
The city police confirmed the officers' deaths on Twitter.
The pair have not been named, and the circumstances around the incident remain unclear.
Police have ended a lockdown in the area but continue their investigation.
A local TV reporter said he had heard four gunshots just after 07:00 (11:00 GMT).
Nick Moore, a journalist from CTV Atlantic, posted video footage of the scene on Twitter, showing emergency vehicles outside a house.
Skip Twitter post by @NickMooreCTV I just spoke with a woman and her small child who’ve been escorted from their home in the cordoned-off area. The woman says she heard what sounded to be multiple gunshots a little after 7am @CTVAtlantic — Nick Moore (@NickMooreCTV) August 10, 2018 Report
"Awful news coming out of Fredericton," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted. "My heart goes out to everyone affected by this morning's shooting. We're following the situation closely."
Fredericton is the capital of New Brunswick province and home to around 56,000 people.
It is rare in Canada for police officers to be killed in the line of duty. Between 1961 and 2009, a total of 133 police were killed, and just five in the province of New Brunswick.
The province mourned in 2014 when 24-year-old Justin Bourque shot five RCMP officers, killing three. The shooting spree led to a 28-hour manhunt, and shocked the nation. In the aftermath, the RCMP was charged with labour-code violations alleging police officers had not been adequately armed and protected for the situation.
Gun laws are more stringent in Canada than in the US, but the number of shootings has nonetheless risen in recent years.
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At least four people, including two police officers have been killed in a shooting in the eastern Canadian city of Fredericton, with one person having taken into custody.
Police in Fredericton, a city of about 56,000 that is the capital of the province of New Brunswick, said in a post on Twitter that the incident was under investigation and warned people to stay in their homes.
Another police tweet said two of the four people killed were police officers but gave no details and did not release the names of the victims. Local media images showed emergency vehicles converged on a tree-lined residential street.
"Awful news coming out of Fredericton," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter. "My heart goes out to everyone affected by this morning's shooting. We're following the situation closely."
Three Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers were killed and two more were wounded in 2014 in Moncton, New Brunswick, about 195 km (121 miles) from Fredericton, in one of the worst incidents of its kind in Canada.
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"Chaos" is how resident David MacCoubrey described the situation. He awoke at 7am to sounds of gunshots just “10 metres from [his] bed". Tim Morehouse, who lives just behind the shooting scene, describes his shock and seeing bodies outside of his bedroom window in Fredericton to Global News. "I still don’t know what to think. You can’t unsee what I saw," Tim Morehouse, who lives in the apartment complex where the shooting took place, told Global News. “I looked outside first and there was a cop that was shooting at the shooter and looked at my back window and saw three people that were dead". “There was one male cop, a female cop and one civilian,” he said. For reference at the shock over this event, the entire province of New Brunswick only had 11 homicides in all of 2016. The Sunny Days Children's Centre in Fredericton experienced a chilling moment during the shooting. "[It was] like a crack, crack, crack, crack — like a handgun," Rachel LeBlanc, director of the daycare facility, told CBC Radio. "We had to lock all the main doors, and we did put them in a room that had no windows and we shut off the lights," she said. More than 20 children had already been dropped off for the day when the shooting began around 7am. Keeping children together with older siblings, they all happily sat watching a movie. "They have no idea what's going on," Ms LeBlanc said. Mayor of Fredericton Mike O'Brien confirmed on Twitter, the other two victims from this morning's shootings were civilians. Police continue to investigate the shooting from early this morning in the Brookside Drive area of Fredericton in New Brunswick, Canada. Four people died - including two police officers - and an unknown number of people have been injured. Local health authorities have confirmed multiple people are being treated at the Dr Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital. Resident Marlene Weaver was in bed this morning when she heard the shots ring out in her neighbourhood. "It was scary," she told Reuters, adding that it reminded her of the 2014 shooting when three Royal Canadian Mounted Police constables were shot and killed in Moncton, New Brunswick, approximately 121 miles (195 km) from Fredricton. Canadian Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) were assisting Fredericton authorities in the investigation. There has been no word yet on the suspected shooter's possible motive. No other details about the suspect or police officers killed have been released as yet. The lockdown has been removed for the area surrounding Brookside Drive, but the investigation into the incident continues according to a police update. The suspect's name and details have not yet been released. Police have confirmed the suspect was injured either during the shooting or in the process of taking them into custody. New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant tweeted his condolences to the victims and their families. Bill Henwood, a funeral director at York Funeral Home, whose business is located inside the cordoned off area on Brookside Drive in Fredericton, said the lockdown occurred before anybody got to work.
Mr Henwood told the Associated Press people are sitting in their cars or just standing near the blockade of police and fire vehicles "hanging tight and waiting for word" on what comes next.
"All the businesses even on the outside of the lockdown area have their lobbies and their business areas closed. They aren't letting customers in at the moment," he said. Mr Henwood said the situation is a shock.
"It's not something that we expect in Fredericton to wake up and hear about. To see that there's actually fatalities is pretty extraordinary for this area. It doesn't normally happen." Police have not yet released the names of the slain police officers who were killed during a shooting earlier this morning in an apartment complex in the Brookside area of Fredricton, New Brunswick in eastern Canada. Back in 2014, three Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers were shot dead and two others seriously injured by 24-year-old shooter Justin Bourque in Moncton, also located in the maritime province of New Brunswick. It was the first homicide in Moncton in four years, but not the deadliest incident for the RCMP. In 2005, James Roszko of Mayerthorpe in the Alberta province, shot and killed four RCMP constables as they were carrying out a property seizure on his farm. It stands as the deadliest incident for the RCMP in Canadian history. Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau responded to the incident via Twitter. It is the second mass shooting to take place in Canada in just the last few weeks. The last one resulted in two deaths and 13 people injured in the Greektown section of Toronto, prompting the city council to vote overwhelmingly in favour of asking Mr Trudeau's government to ban all sales of handguns and handgun ammunition in the city. Canadian police say two of the four killed in Fredericton shooting are police officers. As police are investigating the shooting, they report the area of Brookside is contained and have cautioned people to "please continue to avoid the area," Fredericton police said. The city has approximately 60,000 people in the province of New Brunswick. Important to note that the police are still warning people to stay out of the area, despite having one suspect in custody. But they are also referring to the incident as an "active investigation". Next
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The suspect is in custody, officials say, after the mass shooting rocked the small city of 58,000 people
Four people, including two police officers, have been killed in a shooting in the eastern Canadian city of Fredericton.
While the circumstances of the shooting remain unclear, police said on Friday morning that they had taken one suspect into custody and that the investigation was ongoing.
The suspect was being treated for serious injuries stemming from the incident, police said on Twitter.
The shooting has rocked the city of 58,000 people, who were initially told by police on Friday morning to avoid the area and stay in their homes.
Police also asked social media users to refrain from giving details online of the the position or activities of police or first responders.
A resident, David MacCoubrey, told the Canadian Press he was woken at 7am by three gunshots, which sounded as if they were fired 10 metres from his bed. Over the next 90 minutes or so, he heard more than 15 other gunshots.
The gunfire appeared to be coming from the middle of his apartment complex, which consisted of four buildings in the shape of a square, he said.
Play Video 0:52 Witness to Canada shooting recounts moment he heard guns – video
“Awful news coming out of Fredericton,” the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said on Twitter. “My heart goes out to everyone affected by this morning’s shooting. We’re following the situation closely.”
While gun laws in Canada are far more strict than in neighbouring United States, a proliferation of weapons has led to an increase in gun crimes in recent years.
In 2014, three Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers were killed and two others wounded in a mass shooting in the east coast city of Moncton, New Brunswick.
Last month, a gunman opened fire on a busy Toronto street, killing two people and wounding 13 others before turning his weapon on himself.
In the wake of the shooting, federal officials said they were considering a ban on handguns.
Toronto, Canada’s largest city, has had 241 shooting incidents so far this year, resulting in 30 deaths, a 30% increase in fatalities over the same period last year.
TORONTO -- A shooting in a small Canadian city early Friday left four people dead, including two police officers, under circumstances that were not yet explained but struck a nerve in a country that has been roiled in recent months by several instances of mass violence. People in Fredericton, the capital of New Brunswick in the eastern part of the country, said they heard as many as 20 gunshots following a confrontation that prompted police to initially cordon off a large section of the city with emergency vehicles and order residents to remain inside their homes and businesses.
Finally, after a tense period of waiting, authorities disclosed the toll: Among the four killed were two officers, a rare case of police killed in the line of duty in Canada. Their names were not released.
Of the four people killed in this morning's shootings on Brookside Drive, two were Fredericton Police officers. No names are being released at this time. Please appreciate this is a difficult time for their families and our colleagues. We will provide more info when we can. — Fredericton Police (@CityFredPolice) August 10, 2018
Authorities said one suspect was in custody and was being treated for serious injuries. The person's identity was not announced and no motive was disclosed. A news conference was planned for later Friday.
We can confirm that the suspect in custody is currently being treated for serious injuries related to this morning’s shooting incident. — Fredericton Police (@CityFredPolice) August 10, 2018
Several other victims were being treated at a regional hospital, but there were no immediate details on the nature of their injuries or their conditions.
"Our hearts are broken by the murder of our two brave police officers," Fredericton Mayor Mike O'Brien said in a tweet.
The entire province of New Brunswick had 11 homicides in 2016.
In Fredericton, a city of about 60,000 residents, people said they were stunned by the scene, which occurred as people were heading to work or dropping children at a day care center not far from the apartment complex where the shooting took place. "This is the first time I've even heard of any serious crime or violent crime in this city," said Travis Hrubeniuk, whose fiancee had just left their home when the sirens began.
Rachel LeBlanc, who sheltered at a daycare center in the lockdown area on Brookside Drive, told CBC she heard gunshots shortly after arriving there for work on Friday. She said she heard a "crack, crack, crack, four in a row" in rapid succession. LeBlanc told CBC that the 23 kids in her care were unaware of the security incident, but that she was nervous as the person in charge of their care.
Bill Henwood, a funeral director at York Funeral Home, whose business is located inside the cordoned off area on Brookside Drive, said people sat in their cars or were just standing near the blockade of police and fire vehicles "hanging tight and waiting for word" for news.
"It's not something that we expect in Fredericton to wake up and hear about," Henwood said. "To see that there's actually fatalities is pretty extraordinary for this area."
The shooting comes as Canada wrestles with a string of violence, including an instance in Toronto last month where a man with a handgun opened fire in a crowded part of the city, killing two people and wounding 13 before he either shot himself or was killed by police.
In April, a man who linked himself to a misogynistic online community used a van to run down pedestrians in a busy part of Toronto, killing 10 people and injuring 14.
Authorities are still pursuing leads in an ongoing investigation of a serial killer who has been charged with killing eight men in the city in recent years.
In 2014, a shooting in Moncton, New Brunswick left three Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers dead and two wounded.There was no immediate information on any suspected motive in the shooting, and no information provided on the identities of the suspect in custody or the victims.
David MacCoubrey, who lives in Fredericton, said he heard about 20 shots fired. He was hiding on his kitchen floor. He awoke in his apartment on Brookside Drive around 7 a.m. local time to the sound of three gunshots about 30 feet from his bed.
MacCoubrey said his apartment complex has four buildings in a square, and it sounded like the shots were coming from the middle of the complex. He said police searched the complex, including his own apartment.
