CALGARY, Alberta, April 15 (UPI) -- Five people, all in their 20s, were stabbed to death at a house party in Calgary, Alberta, in what Police Chief Rick Hanson has described as the "worst mass murder in Calgary’s history."
The stabbings took place early Tuesday morning at a University of Calgary house party celebrating the end of classes.
Four men and one woman were killed, including a 22-year-old man, two 23-year-old men, a 23-year-old woman and a 27-year-old man. Two of the victims, Zackariah Rathwell and Josh Hunter, were members of a local band called Zackariah and the Prophets.
Police apprehended the suspect about 40 minutes after he fled the party. They later identified him as Matthew de Grood, a 23-year-old University of Calgary student and the son of a Calgary police officer who had served in the department for 33 years.
“We understand the party was for friends and people of the university and the suspect was an invited guest," Hanson said.
"The suspect arrived at the party, obtained a large knife and targeted the victims one by one, stabbing them," he added.
De Groode will likely face first-degree murder charges.
"We have never seen five people killed by an individual at one scene. The scene was horrific," Hanson said.
[CTV, CBC, Calgary Herald]
