The police in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., was called to respond to a domestic violence incident in the days leading up to the murders of an adult woman and three children on Monday evening.
According to local newspaper The Sault Star, the suspect is Bob Thomas Hallaert. The man first shot his girlfriend, a 41-year-old woman, at a residence on Tancred Street before going to the home of his ex-partner Kim Rose. On site, he shot his three children aged 6, 7 and 12 and seriously injured his former wife before committing suicide.
No information was given on Wednesday about Ms. Rose’s health.
The police chief of Sault Ste. Marie, Hugh Stevenson, admitted at a press conference on Wednesday that some of his colleagues had intervened with Bob Thomas Hallaert in recent days over a domestic dispute. However, he did not want to give the date or place of the operation and limited himself to saying that further details would be released once the investigation was more advanced.
Mr Stevenson called on governments to take action and launch a public inquiry into the problem of domestic violence in the country.
“I think all governments need to look at this situation and take it a little more seriously after what happened here,” the police chief said.