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Canadian police identify and charge suspect in multiple killing

Civilian fatalities named after 48-year-old white man is charged with first degree murder

police officers Sara Mae Burns (43) and Lawrence Robb Costello (45) were shot at an apartment complex in Fredericton, capital of the province of New Brunswick. Photograph: Reuters

Sat Aug 11 2018 - 18:07

Police have charged a man with murder following the deaths of four people, including two police officers and they have also identified the civilians killed in Friday’s shooting in the Canadian city of Fredericton.

Matthew Vincent Raymond (48) was charged with four counts of first degree murder, according to a statement on Saturday. Police identified the civilian victims as Bobbie-Lee Wright (32) and Donald Adam Robichaud (42). They did not release information about a possible motive or the weapon.

A makeshift memorial has been forming outside police headquarters in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Photograph: Reuters

The four people killed, including police officers Sara Mae Burns (43) and Lawrence Robb Costello (45) were shot at an apartment complex in Fredericton, capital of the province of New Brunswick.

Police said the officers responded to a report of shots fired early on Friday morning and found two civilian victims on the ground.

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Sean Callahan said he grew up with one of the victims, his cousin Donald Robichaud, in rural New Brunswick. Robichaud, a musician and father of three, had recently begun a new relationship with Wright, said Mr Callahan.

“Donnie’s probably the best person you could ever meet in your whole life. The kindest person,” said Mr Callahan . “Who in the hell would want to shoot Donnie Robichaud?”

According to their Facebook pages, a Fredericton man named Donnie Robichaud was in a relationship with Bobbie-Lee Wright.

The dead police officers were Burns, who had served two years on the force and another two as an auxiliary officer and who had three children; and Costello, a 20-year veteran who left behind four children.

Friday’s shooting was the latest eruption of gun violence across the country. Gun laws in Canada are stricter than in the United States, but a proliferation of weapons has led to an increase in gun-related crimes in recent years.

The shooting occurred three weeks after a gunman walked down a busy Toronto street, killing two people and wounding 13 before killing himself. – Reuters

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