Two children are dead and a 46-year-old man is under arrest after officers were called to intervene at a home north of Montreal Monday evening, Laval police said Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for the force said investigators identified the victims as an 11-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl. They were transported to hospital where their deaths were confirmed.
The suspect was also taken to hospital but his condition has stabilized and he will be questioned by investigators before an arraignment by video later Tuesday, if his health permits.
Police say another unidentified family member was also present and was transported to hospital to be treated for shock after witnessing the scene.
Police have not released the suspect’s name and have not said what the link is between him and the victims, but Const. Erika Landry said investigators were working on the hypothesis it was domestic violence.
Landry said police have completed their work at the scene and will be able to provide more details later Tuesday.
The children were found just before 6 p.m. Monday inside a home on Lauzon Street in the city’s Ste-Dorothée neighbourhood. Municipal evaluation records show the owners of the home were registered as owners in late May 2022.
The semi-detached house in a residential neighbourhood is just a few hundred metres from École Pierre-Laporte, an elementary school where one of the two children was enrolled, Laval school commission spokeswoman Annie Goyette confirmed in an email.
“A team of professionals is on site to provide support to the students and school staff under the circumstances,” Goyette wrote. “A letter has also been sent home to all parents to inform them of the situation.”
Goyette said the school commission’s thoughts are with family, relatives and friends of the two victims.
On Tuesday, Premier François Legault offered his condolences on Twitter.
“An unspeakable tragedy, my thoughts are with the loved ones of these two children,” Legault wrote. “I can’t imagine their pain.”
Laval Mayor Stéphane Boyer also extended condolences to the victims’ loved ones on social media Monday night and said “all of Laval” is mourning.
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