Two police killed in Canadian shooting
FOUR PEOPLE DEAD IN ATTACK
A SHOOTING in a small Canadian city early has left four people dead, including two police officers.
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 cordon off a large section of the city.
Among the four killed were two officers. It was a rare case of police killed in the line of duty in Canada. Their names had not been released last night.
“Our hearts are broken by the murder of our two brave police officers,” Fredericton mayor Mike O’brien said in a tweet.
Several other victims were being treated at a regional hospital.
Authorities said one suspect was in custody but the person’s identity was not released.
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 incident, which occurred as people were heading to work or dropping children at a day care centre not far from the apartment complex where the shooting took place.
The shooting comes as Canada wrestles with a string of violence, including an incident 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.