Edmonton man kills 8 before reportedly turning gun on himself

By RYAN GORMAN

Nine people are dead -- including the presumed gunman -- across three separate crime scenes in and around Edmonton, Alberta, according to police.

Seven of the victims were found Monday night in a single house on the city's north side and another was discovered in a home on the southwest side. The alleged gunman was found dead Tuesday morning at a Vietnamese restaurant in suburban Fort Saskatchewan.

The victims are four adult females, two adult males and two children (a male and a female), authorities said in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon. Their identities have yet to be released.

"It is a tragic day for Edmonton," police chief Rod Knecht said in a Tuesday afternoon media briefing shown on Global News. "Our thoughts go out to the community as we all come to terms with the senseless mass murder of eight people."

The final body found matched the description of a suicidal male police had previously been hunting for, according to the statement.

The windows of the restaurant were blown out, according to the Edmonton Journal. The front doors were also broken down.

A witness told the paper that SWAT police surrounded the restaurant around 6:30 a.m. while ordering a suspect outside.

"Come out with your hands up," police shouted into a megaphone

A SWAT vehicle then rammed the front of the restaurant when the assailant did not respond, the witness recalled. His lifeless body was then found inside, according to police.

Police initially cordoned off the entirety of downtown Fort Saskatchewan, where the restaurant is located, according to the Journal, but have since narrowed the roped off area to just the restaurant.

Ron Bailey, a neighbor of the home where seven of the victims were discovered told the Journal that a family of five lived in the house.

"It's a tragedy and I hope the children weren't involved," said Bailey.

Another neighbor, Moe Assif, recalled to the paper seeing the husband and wife argue over the summer, shouting on the front lawn at 3:00 a.m.

"This is going to get really nasty, really fast," Assif recalled thinking.

The couple was reported by the Journal to be "facing financial pressures."

An additional three children were found inside the southwest Edmonton home, according to the CBC. They have been taken into protective custody.

The mass killing is the worst in Alberta since at least 1879, authorities told CBS News.